Tom Fishburne's ActivityTypepadTypepadtag:typepad.com,2003:profile.typepad.com/services/activity/atom/tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/personhttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburnetag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133f526346c970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-10-18T02:38:41Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340133f525ca4d970bwaterfall planninghttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-10-18T02:38:41Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a style="display: inline;" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348845f032970c-popup"><img class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401348845f032970c" style="width: 450px;" title="101018.waterfall" src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348845f032970c-450wi" alt="101018.waterfall" /></a></p> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000D.IAyxw9iME" target="_self">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>Crafting an annual plan is like getting a bill through Congress. Behind the final numbers and strategies lie countless hours of spreadsheet crunching, hallway meetings, and waterfall charts. We debate assumptions, broker compromises, and eventually settle on a plan that is wrong the moment it's inked.</p> <p>A finance director once told me that "spending more time on planning won't make the numbers more accurate; it just makes the numbers wrong to the penny." &nbsp;</p> <p>It's important to know the business inside and out and have a clear trajectory where we're headed. &nbsp;But there is a point where planning becomes overplanning. &nbsp;All that time spent planning is time spent not doing.</p> <p>We need to accept that there will be risk and uncertainty in any worthwhile plan. We don't make that risk go away by crunching the spreadsheet yet another time. Instead, once we plan what we know, we should set the plan aside. Apply that time, energy, and focus on coming up with bigger ideas and making things happen. Place a few audacious unpredictable bets. Minimize the risk by maximizing the upside.</p> <p>Earlier this year, I met <a href="http://www.iansanders.com" target="_self">Ian Sanders</a> briefly at South By Southwest. Ian gave an inspiring talk on the merits of Unplanning. &nbsp;Here's his Unplan manifesto, which includes a brilliant quote from Saatchi &amp; Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts:</p> <p><em>"A company’s success can be measured on an inverse ratio to the amount of time it spends on traditional strategic planning."</em><br> <a title="View Unplan Your Business on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/27810926/Unplan-Your-Business" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">Unplan Your Business</a> <object id="doc_68957" name="doc_68957" height="300" width="100%" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf" style="outline:none;" > <param name="movie" value="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="FlashVars" value="document_id=27810926&access_key=key-hm13g61vvjln85flm5z&page=1&viewMode=list"> <embed id="doc_68957" name="doc_68957" src="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=27810926&access_key=key-hm13g61vvjln85flm5z&page=1&viewMode=list" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="300" width="100%" wmode="opaque" bgcolor="#ffffff"></embed> </object> </p> <p><a style="display: inline;" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348845f032970c-popup"><img class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401348845f032970c" style="width: 450px;" title="101018.waterfall" src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348845f032970c-450wi" alt="101018.waterfall" /></a></p> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000D.IAyxw9iME" target="_self">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>Crafting an annual plan is like getting a bill through Congress. Behind the final numbers and strategies lie countless hours of spreadsheet crunching, hallway meetings, and waterfall charts. We debate assumptions, broker compromises, and eventually settle on a plan that is wrong the moment it's inked.</p> <p>A finance director once told me that "spending more time on planning won't make the numbers more accurate; it just makes the numbers wrong to the penny." &nbsp;</p> <p>It's important to know the business inside and out and have a clear trajectory where we're headed. &nbsp;But there is a point where planning becomes overplanning. &nbsp;All that time spent planning is time spent not doing.</p> <p>We need to accept that there will be risk and uncertainty in any worthwhile plan. We don't make that risk go away by crunching the spreadsheet yet another time. Instead, once we plan what we know, we should set the plan aside. Apply that time, energy, and focus on coming up with bigger ideas and making things happen. Place a few audacious unpredictable bets. Minimize the risk by maximizing the upside.</p> <p>Earlier this year, I met <a href="http://www.iansanders.com" target="_self">Ian Sanders</a> briefly at South By Southwest. Ian gave an inspiring talk on the merits of Unplanning. &nbsp;Here's his Unplan manifesto, which includes a brilliant quote from Saatchi &amp; Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts:</p> <p><em>"A company’s success can be measured on an inverse ratio to the amount of time it spends on traditional strategic planning."</em><br> <a title="View Unplan Your Business on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/27810926/Unplan-Your-Business" style="margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">Unplan Your Business</a> <object id="doc_68957" name="doc_68957" height="300" width="100%" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf" style="outline:none;" > <param name="movie" value="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="FlashVars" value="document_id=27810926&access_key=key-hm13g61vvjln85flm5z&page=1&viewMode=list"> <embed id="doc_68957" name="doc_68957" src="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=27810926&access_key=key-hm13g61vvjln85flm5z&page=1&viewMode=list" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="300" width="100%" wmode="opaque" bgcolor="#ffffff"></embed> </object> </p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133f4f9f0a3970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-10-11T04:46:31Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340133f4f8ab0e970ball-knowing focus grouphttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-10-11T04:46:31Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013488189f60970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="101011.focusgroup" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834013488189f60970c" src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013488189f60970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" title="101011.focusgroup" /></a></p> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000t956IBBHFGg/P0000a92SA9QASAE" target="_self">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>Henry Ford famously said, &quot;if I&#39;d asked customers what they wanted, they would have said &#39;a faster horse&#39;&quot;.</p> <p>Many businesses treat focus groups as prophetic. Whether looking for inspiration or validation,&#0160;they give&#0160;staggering authority to eight strangers gathered on the other side of a one-way mirror. After one particularly idea-sapping focus group, a creative director leaned over to me and said, &quot;do you think these eight women realize how much power they have?&quot; We jokingly referred to them as the Oracles of Eden Prairie.</p> <p>Focus groups have their place in the field of consumer insights. Yet they are poorly equipped to answer many questions, particularly involving innovations that are dramatically different from what has been done before. It&#39;s rare that remarkable or unique business ideas originate in an eight-member focus group. Most consumers don&#39;t really know what they want, and if they do, they have a difficult time articulating it.</p> <p>HBS professor Gerald Zaltman first opened my eyes to the power of a non-focus group approach in consumer research. He created a process called the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) to unearth consumer insights that are deeper than consumers know how to articulate themselves. We experimented with these techniques in the classroom. Dan Pink wrote a <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/14/zaltman.html" target="_self">great profile</a> on Zaltman that captures the value of this approach:</p> <p><em>&quot;People can give us only what we give them the opportunity to provide,&quot; Zaltman says. &quot;To the extent that we structure the stimulus - whether it&#39;s a discussion guide in a focus group or a question in a survey - all people can do is respond. And there&#39;s value in that. But I see those as strip-mining techniques. Sometimes the valuable ore is on the surface. But often it&#39;s not. Strip-mining techniques are inappropriate when there&#39;s a great deal more depth to be had. Typically, the deeper you go, the more value there is.&quot;</em></p> <p>Asking the Oracles of Eden Prairie to tell you what they want is a good technique if you&#39;re in the &quot;faster horse&quot; business. But, if you&#39;re trying to create something meaningfully different, experiment with research&#0160;methods that are also meaningfully different.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013488189f60970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="101011.focusgroup" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834013488189f60970c" src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013488189f60970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" title="101011.focusgroup" /></a></p> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000t956IBBHFGg/P0000a92SA9QASAE" target="_self">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>Henry Ford famously said, &quot;if I&#39;d asked customers what they wanted, they would have said &#39;a faster horse&#39;&quot;.</p> <p>Many businesses treat focus groups as prophetic. Whether looking for inspiration or validation,&#0160;they give&#0160;staggering authority to eight strangers gathered on the other side of a one-way mirror. After one particularly idea-sapping focus group, a creative director leaned over to me and said, &quot;do you think these eight women realize how much power they have?&quot; We jokingly referred to them as the Oracles of Eden Prairie.</p> <p>Focus groups have their place in the field of consumer insights. Yet they are poorly equipped to answer many questions, particularly involving innovations that are dramatically different from what has been done before. It&#39;s rare that remarkable or unique business ideas originate in an eight-member focus group. Most consumers don&#39;t really know what they want, and if they do, they have a difficult time articulating it.</p> <p>HBS professor Gerald Zaltman first opened my eyes to the power of a non-focus group approach in consumer research. He created a process called the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) to unearth consumer insights that are deeper than consumers know how to articulate themselves. We experimented with these techniques in the classroom. Dan Pink wrote a <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/14/zaltman.html" target="_self">great profile</a> on Zaltman that captures the value of this approach:</p> <p><em>&quot;People can give us only what we give them the opportunity to provide,&quot; Zaltman says. &quot;To the extent that we structure the stimulus - whether it&#39;s a discussion guide in a focus group or a question in a survey - all people can do is respond. And there&#39;s value in that. But I see those as strip-mining techniques. Sometimes the valuable ore is on the surface. But often it&#39;s not. Strip-mining techniques are inappropriate when there&#39;s a great deal more depth to be had. Typically, the deeper you go, the more value there is.&quot;</em></p> <p>Asking the Oracles of Eden Prairie to tell you what they want is a good technique if you&#39;re in the &quot;faster horse&quot; business. But, if you&#39;re trying to create something meaningfully different, experiment with research&#0160;methods that are also meaningfully different.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834013487f0e915970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-10-03T18:14:31Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340133f4ccc39f970bthe 8 types of managershttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-10-03T18:14:31Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487f65e14970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="101004.8typesmanager" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834013487f65e14970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487f65e14970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="101004.8typesmanager" /></a> <br />&#0160;</p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000DoX3s2BmBGQ/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>I recently heard someone referred to as a &quot;seagull manager&quot;, a term Ken Blanchard coined in 1985: &quot;seagull managers fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everyone, then fly out.&quot;&#0160; </p> <p>This conversation prompted a discussion on bad managers of all stripes. Everyone at the table had a top-of-mind example. I grouped some of the most common offenders into this cartoon.&#0160;</p> <p>If bad management is so readily visible, why are their so many culprits? Part of it I think is that many managers are oblivious to their impact on others. One of my friends quit a job specifically because of an abusive manager, and that manager not only showed up to her going-away party, he tried to friend her on LinkedIn and even asked for a reference later on. He was completely oblivious to the perception that others had of him, even though he was ultimately fired because of the number of abuse complaints against him.&#0160; </p> <p>It reminds me of that old expression, &quot;confidence without competence is arrogance.&quot; Many managers achieve positions of leadership and don&#39;t recognize that leading a team is something they might not innately know how to do. They don&#39;t recognize that they haven&#39;t gained competence.&#0160;</p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487f0e563970c-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Mug" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834013487f0e563970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487f0e563970c-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Mug" /></a> The truth is that leading teams is incredibly hard. Very few are naturally good at it. It takes humility and continuous practice to get better. It&#39;s an exercise of progress, not perfection. One of my friends took a new position and gave each member of his team the coffee mug on the right. &#0160;A self-deprecating attitude is a good place to start.</p> <p>This cartoon is latest I&#39;ve drawn in a series of &quot;8 types&quot; cartoons: <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2008-Cartoons/G0000lmBvb4J.ZyA/I00005O0CKWKOQ3o/P0000a92SA9QASAE">creative directors</a>, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2006-Cartoons/G0000IRCEGKR892Q/I0000JoDHIAFf2Kw/P0000a92SA9QASAE">creative critics</a>, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2008-Cartoons/G0000lmBvb4J.ZyA/I0000lgQ1m3gxmzQ/P0000a92SA9QASAE">retail buyers</a>, and <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2002-Cartoons/G0000qayNoDs__90/I0000KjdGWeGBEq8/P0000a92SA9QASAE">brand managers</a>.</p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487f65e14970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="101004.8typesmanager" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834013487f65e14970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487f65e14970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="101004.8typesmanager" /></a> <br />&#0160;</p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000DoX3s2BmBGQ/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>I recently heard someone referred to as a &quot;seagull manager&quot;, a term Ken Blanchard coined in 1985: &quot;seagull managers fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everyone, then fly out.&quot;&#0160; </p> <p>This conversation prompted a discussion on bad managers of all stripes. Everyone at the table had a top-of-mind example. I grouped some of the most common offenders into this cartoon.&#0160;</p> <p>If bad management is so readily visible, why are their so many culprits? Part of it I think is that many managers are oblivious to their impact on others. One of my friends quit a job specifically because of an abusive manager, and that manager not only showed up to her going-away party, he tried to friend her on LinkedIn and even asked for a reference later on. He was completely oblivious to the perception that others had of him, even though he was ultimately fired because of the number of abuse complaints against him.&#0160; </p> <p>It reminds me of that old expression, &quot;confidence without competence is arrogance.&quot; Many managers achieve positions of leadership and don&#39;t recognize that leading a team is something they might not innately know how to do. They don&#39;t recognize that they haven&#39;t gained competence.&#0160;</p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487f0e563970c-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Mug" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834013487f0e563970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487f0e563970c-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Mug" /></a> The truth is that leading teams is incredibly hard. Very few are naturally good at it. It takes humility and continuous practice to get better. It&#39;s an exercise of progress, not perfection. One of my friends took a new position and gave each member of his team the coffee mug on the right. &#0160;A self-deprecating attitude is a good place to start.</p> <p>This cartoon is latest I&#39;ve drawn in a series of &quot;8 types&quot; cartoons: <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2008-Cartoons/G0000lmBvb4J.ZyA/I00005O0CKWKOQ3o/P0000a92SA9QASAE">creative directors</a>, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2006-Cartoons/G0000IRCEGKR892Q/I0000JoDHIAFf2Kw/P0000a92SA9QASAE">creative critics</a>, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2008-Cartoons/G0000lmBvb4J.ZyA/I0000lgQ1m3gxmzQ/P0000a92SA9QASAE">retail buyers</a>, and <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2002-Cartoons/G0000qayNoDs__90/I0000KjdGWeGBEq8/P0000a92SA9QASAE">brand managers</a>.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834013487bddebb970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-09-27T04:47:53Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c451518834013487bd58e5970cfriends, fans, and followershttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-09-27T04:47:53Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487bd5868970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100927.friendsfans" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834013487bd5868970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487bd5868970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100927.friendsfans" /></a> </p><p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000NceSM1uNHhg/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>In the social media bandwagon, brands place a lot of emphasis on the absolute number of friends, fans, and followers. They treat that number as a proxy for how well the brand is reaching its audience. The assumption is the bigger the number, the more effective the outreach.&#0160; </p> <p>Six years ago, Häagen-Dazs followed a consumer landgrab strategy with a loyalty program that aimed to build a 500,000 member database of &quot;loyalists&quot;. The focus was on quantity, not quality, and the tactics to grow the audience were close to bribery. Consumers received lucrative incentives and monthly gifts to agree to be on the list. However, it was a shallow connection at best. The profile became deal hunters, not true brand loyalists. Häagen-Dazs ultimately killed the program when they discovered that a 500,000 member database of shallow names actually held very little value.</p> <p>The same dynamic is happening now with social media. Seth Godin argues that &quot;viral growth trumps lots of faux followers&quot; in an <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/02/viral-growth-trumps-lots-of-faux-followers.html">interesting post</a> earlier this year:&#0160;</p> <p><em>&quot;Many brands and idea promoters are in a hurry to rack up as many Facebook fans and Twitter followers as they possibly can. Hundreds of thousands if possible. A lot of these fans and followers are faux. Sunny day friends... A slightly better idea defeats a much bigger but disconnected user base every time. The lesson: spend your time coming up with better ideas, not with more (faux) followers.&quot;</em>&#0160; </p> <p>Some brands make a mistake at the other extreme by blowing all the stops on a tiny group of influencers. One brand I know created ridiculously expensive branded environments to reach twelve consumers at a time. They identified these twelve as influencers and banked that they would spread the word to many, many more. While impactful to those who participated, you obviously can&#39;t build a brand efficiently reaching only dozens of consumers at a time.</p><p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f49d3919970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Gmum" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f49d3919970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f49d3919970b-200wi" style="width: 200px; margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Gmum" /></a>The right balance is to be both high-touch and high-scale. My favorite example is gDiapers, which taps a <a href="http://www.gdiapers.com/fair-dinkum/gdiapers-community/gmum">willing base of gMums</a> to help spread the word. These advocates even go so far as to conduct in-store demos on behalf of gDiapers for free because they love the mission of the brand so much. Co-founder Jason Graham-Nye didn&#39;t create the progam from scratch. He didn&#39;t set out to create a 500,000 member database. Instead, he discoverd that consumers had self-organized a <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gDiapers/">Yahoo group</a>&#0160;to talk about the brand and he simply looked for ways to channel that passion. A remarkable product proposition had to come first.&#0160;</p><p>Rather than chase fair-weather friends, fans, and followers, inspire your gMums.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487bd5868970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100927.friendsfans" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834013487bd5868970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013487bd5868970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100927.friendsfans" /></a> </p><p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000NceSM1uNHhg/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>In the social media bandwagon, brands place a lot of emphasis on the absolute number of friends, fans, and followers. They treat that number as a proxy for how well the brand is reaching its audience. The assumption is the bigger the number, the more effective the outreach.&#0160; </p> <p>Six years ago, Häagen-Dazs followed a consumer landgrab strategy with a loyalty program that aimed to build a 500,000 member database of &quot;loyalists&quot;. The focus was on quantity, not quality, and the tactics to grow the audience were close to bribery. Consumers received lucrative incentives and monthly gifts to agree to be on the list. However, it was a shallow connection at best. The profile became deal hunters, not true brand loyalists. Häagen-Dazs ultimately killed the program when they discovered that a 500,000 member database of shallow names actually held very little value.</p> <p>The same dynamic is happening now with social media. Seth Godin argues that &quot;viral growth trumps lots of faux followers&quot; in an <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/02/viral-growth-trumps-lots-of-faux-followers.html">interesting post</a> earlier this year:&#0160;</p> <p><em>&quot;Many brands and idea promoters are in a hurry to rack up as many Facebook fans and Twitter followers as they possibly can. Hundreds of thousands if possible. A lot of these fans and followers are faux. Sunny day friends... A slightly better idea defeats a much bigger but disconnected user base every time. The lesson: spend your time coming up with better ideas, not with more (faux) followers.&quot;</em>&#0160; </p> <p>Some brands make a mistake at the other extreme by blowing all the stops on a tiny group of influencers. One brand I know created ridiculously expensive branded environments to reach twelve consumers at a time. They identified these twelve as influencers and banked that they would spread the word to many, many more. While impactful to those who participated, you obviously can&#39;t build a brand efficiently reaching only dozens of consumers at a time.</p><p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f49d3919970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Gmum" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f49d3919970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f49d3919970b-200wi" style="width: 200px; margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Gmum" /></a>The right balance is to be both high-touch and high-scale. My favorite example is gDiapers, which taps a <a href="http://www.gdiapers.com/fair-dinkum/gdiapers-community/gmum">willing base of gMums</a> to help spread the word. These advocates even go so far as to conduct in-store demos on behalf of gDiapers for free because they love the mission of the brand so much. Co-founder Jason Graham-Nye didn&#39;t create the progam from scratch. He didn&#39;t set out to create a 500,000 member database. Instead, he discoverd that consumers had self-organized a <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gDiapers/">Yahoo group</a>&#0160;to talk about the brand and he simply looked for ways to channel that passion. A remarkable product proposition had to come first.&#0160;</p><p>Rather than chase fair-weather friends, fans, and followers, inspire your gMums.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133f4601e61970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-09-19T21:07:21Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340134877aadcc970chow brands talkhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-09-19T21:07:21Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134877aadba970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100920.howbrandstalk" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340134877aadba970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134877aadba970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100920.howbrandstalk" /></a>&#0160;</p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000RpWYVK0iZPE/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>Whether on package copy, TV ads, or websites, most brands talk in the same self-referential and self-absorbed way. It’s by design. That’s usually the first filter of a creative review: run through a checklist to make sure that all the key benefits from the brief are there. The problem is that there’s rarely a filter that all that brand talk is actually interesting.&#0160;</p> <p>Hugh Macleod refers to this as&#0160;<a href="http://gapingvoid.com/2010/09/19/the-idea-amplifier/">The Cocktail Party Rule</a>: &quot;what’s true at cocktail parties is also true in marketing i.e. If you want to be boring, talk about yourself. If you want to be interesting, talk about something else.&quot;</p> <p>Robert Stephens, the founder of Geek Squad, once said that “advertising is a tax for unremarkable thinking”. Most brands invest in Paid Media to interrupt their consumers long enough to blab about their brand message, whether or not it’s ultimately that interesting to them. Consumers’ collective eyes glaze over in a blah blah blah world and it becomes harder and harder to get your message across.&#0160;</p> <p>TBWA identifies four types of Media available to brands: Paid, Earned, Owned, and Created. Most brands only think about Paid Media, but Earned Media is a much better litmus test. Is your brand doing or saying something interesting enough that consumers and the press are compelled enough to share it? Consumers and the press share ideas, not because the ideas convey key benefits from your creative brief, but because it’s interesting to them.&#0160; </p> <p>Owned and Created Media is an even higher bar because it requires communication to be less about the brand and more about the consumers through the brand. My favorite example is the American Express <a href="http://www.openforum.com">OPEN Forum</a>, a community and resource for small business owners. There is no overt pitch of the brand benefits of American Express to a small business owner. They don’t need one. They say everything you need to know about American Express through a conversation that is about the consumer, not the card.&#0160;</p> <p>Increasing your working media budget is not enough to get your message into the world if your message isn’t interesting enough to share on it’s own. Media is just an accelerant.&#0160;</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134877aadba970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100920.howbrandstalk" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340134877aadba970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134877aadba970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100920.howbrandstalk" /></a>&#0160;</p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000RpWYVK0iZPE/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>Whether on package copy, TV ads, or websites, most brands talk in the same self-referential and self-absorbed way. It’s by design. That’s usually the first filter of a creative review: run through a checklist to make sure that all the key benefits from the brief are there. The problem is that there’s rarely a filter that all that brand talk is actually interesting.&#0160;</p> <p>Hugh Macleod refers to this as&#0160;<a href="http://gapingvoid.com/2010/09/19/the-idea-amplifier/">The Cocktail Party Rule</a>: &quot;what’s true at cocktail parties is also true in marketing i.e. If you want to be boring, talk about yourself. If you want to be interesting, talk about something else.&quot;</p> <p>Robert Stephens, the founder of Geek Squad, once said that “advertising is a tax for unremarkable thinking”. Most brands invest in Paid Media to interrupt their consumers long enough to blab about their brand message, whether or not it’s ultimately that interesting to them. Consumers’ collective eyes glaze over in a blah blah blah world and it becomes harder and harder to get your message across.&#0160;</p> <p>TBWA identifies four types of Media available to brands: Paid, Earned, Owned, and Created. Most brands only think about Paid Media, but Earned Media is a much better litmus test. Is your brand doing or saying something interesting enough that consumers and the press are compelled enough to share it? Consumers and the press share ideas, not because the ideas convey key benefits from your creative brief, but because it’s interesting to them.&#0160; </p> <p>Owned and Created Media is an even higher bar because it requires communication to be less about the brand and more about the consumers through the brand. My favorite example is the American Express <a href="http://www.openforum.com">OPEN Forum</a>, a community and resource for small business owners. There is no overt pitch of the brand benefits of American Express to a small business owner. They don’t need one. They say everything you need to know about American Express through a conversation that is about the consumer, not the card.&#0160;</p> <p>Increasing your working media budget is not enough to get your message into the world if your message isn’t interesting enough to share on it’s own. Media is just an accelerant.&#0160;</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133f425f467970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-09-12T23:37:45Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340133f422fbe9970bidea prevention departmenthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-09-12T23:37:45Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f422fa94970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100913.ideaprevention" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f422fa94970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f422fa94970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100913.ideaprevention" /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000m_9YBPFQZIg/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>I recently heard someone refer to their legal department as a &quot;Sales Prevention Department&quot;. I realized that most businesses have some sort of &quot;idea prevention department&quot;, whether they nickname it the &quot;VP of We Can&#39;t&quot; or the &quot;Abominable No Men&quot;. These are the alarmists who are so focused on what can go wrong that they miss the big picture. When every risk is magnified with a telephoto lens, it sometimes feels safer to stand still.&#0160; </p><p>When you are championing an idea in an organization, you have to win over the &quot;Abominable No Men&quot;. Some of this comes through asking for forgiveness rather than permission. But a lot of this requires selling inside, which is often more important than selling outside.&#0160; </p><p>Almost ten years ago, I experienced my first introduction to large corporate legal teams. Gaining approval on ideas was notoriously tough. But I soon discovered that reviews went a lot smoother when I took the time to personally befriend the legal team and get to know their motivations. I learned that a lawyer named Josh played bass in a rock band on weekends and went by the nickname J-Low. I found it was a lot easier to champion an idea with J-Low because I knew him well enough to anticipate and overcome objections that came up.&#0160;</p><p>It&#39;s not always the lawyers. In fact, the best lawyers are mindful of risk, but also mindful of opportunity. I&#39;ve worked with a number of lawyers who know how to weigh both sides of an idea and give a measured point of view. I&#39;ve even worked with some who could create marketing opportunities out of <a href="http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/04/28/Clorox-Fights-Method-Over-Daisy.aspx">legal challenges</a>.&#0160; </p><p>Every business needs both the opportunists and the risk mitigators, those who see the silver linings and those who see the storm clouds. A successful marketer sees both.</p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f422fa94970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100913.ideaprevention" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f422fa94970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f422fa94970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100913.ideaprevention" /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000m_9YBPFQZIg/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>I recently heard someone refer to their legal department as a &quot;Sales Prevention Department&quot;. I realized that most businesses have some sort of &quot;idea prevention department&quot;, whether they nickname it the &quot;VP of We Can&#39;t&quot; or the &quot;Abominable No Men&quot;. These are the alarmists who are so focused on what can go wrong that they miss the big picture. When every risk is magnified with a telephoto lens, it sometimes feels safer to stand still.&#0160; </p><p>When you are championing an idea in an organization, you have to win over the &quot;Abominable No Men&quot;. Some of this comes through asking for forgiveness rather than permission. But a lot of this requires selling inside, which is often more important than selling outside.&#0160; </p><p>Almost ten years ago, I experienced my first introduction to large corporate legal teams. Gaining approval on ideas was notoriously tough. But I soon discovered that reviews went a lot smoother when I took the time to personally befriend the legal team and get to know their motivations. I learned that a lawyer named Josh played bass in a rock band on weekends and went by the nickname J-Low. I found it was a lot easier to champion an idea with J-Low because I knew him well enough to anticipate and overcome objections that came up.&#0160;</p><p>It&#39;s not always the lawyers. In fact, the best lawyers are mindful of risk, but also mindful of opportunity. I&#39;ve worked with a number of lawyers who know how to weigh both sides of an idea and give a measured point of view. I&#39;ve even worked with some who could create marketing opportunities out of <a href="http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/04/28/Clorox-Fights-Method-Over-Daisy.aspx">legal challenges</a>.&#0160; </p><p>Every business needs both the opportunists and the risk mitigators, those who see the silver linings and those who see the storm clouds. A successful marketer sees both.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133f365961e970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-08-29T15:21:05Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401348689b826970cthe art of planninghttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-08-29T15:21:05Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f3658da7970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100830.artofplanning" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f3658da7970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f3658da7970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100830.artofplanning" /></a>&#0160;</p><p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly download this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000JvK8s.aUC1s/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p><p>For many businesses, planning for 2011 is in full swing, particularly the horse-trading, haggling, and negotiating to choose the revenue target. The core business team develops a bottoms-up plan they feel is achievable. The leadership team sets an top-down stretch target that is much higher. Then everyone bickers over the gap between the two numbers.</p><p>There are a few schools of thought on where to draw the line in between. Set your target too low and you can reliably hit the number, but you may not have achieved anything remarkable. Set your target too high and it may spur you to breakthrough growth, but it will feel like failure if you then miss the number.&#0160;</p><p>A plan is outdated the moment it&#39;s inked. Things change: customers change their minds, new opportunities surface, roadblocks appear. The key to hitting a plan is having a constant list of upsides to chase and downsides to mitigate so that you have contingiencies. I once saw a plan with a long list of downsides, but no upsides. Someone asked why the team hadn&#39;t come up with a list of upsides. It turned out that they had, but they then baked the upsides into the plan.&#0160;They then had nowhere to go when bad news inevitably came.&#0160; </p><p>The best plans are neither sandbagged or full of hot air. They find the right equilibrium in between. But, they then provide extra incentives to the team for beating plan by different levels. This approach motivates the team to find breakthrough growth, but not at the expense to morale of having a plan perpetually <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/tomfishburne/2008/06/the-five-stages.html">out-of-reach</a>. &#0160;</p><p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f3659380970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Missingplan" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f3659380970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f3659380970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="Missingplan" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f3658da7970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100830.artofplanning" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f3658da7970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f3658da7970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100830.artofplanning" /></a>&#0160;</p><p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly download this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000JvK8s.aUC1s/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p><p>For many businesses, planning for 2011 is in full swing, particularly the horse-trading, haggling, and negotiating to choose the revenue target. The core business team develops a bottoms-up plan they feel is achievable. The leadership team sets an top-down stretch target that is much higher. Then everyone bickers over the gap between the two numbers.</p><p>There are a few schools of thought on where to draw the line in between. Set your target too low and you can reliably hit the number, but you may not have achieved anything remarkable. Set your target too high and it may spur you to breakthrough growth, but it will feel like failure if you then miss the number.&#0160;</p><p>A plan is outdated the moment it&#39;s inked. Things change: customers change their minds, new opportunities surface, roadblocks appear. The key to hitting a plan is having a constant list of upsides to chase and downsides to mitigate so that you have contingiencies. I once saw a plan with a long list of downsides, but no upsides. Someone asked why the team hadn&#39;t come up with a list of upsides. It turned out that they had, but they then baked the upsides into the plan.&#0160;They then had nowhere to go when bad news inevitably came.&#0160; </p><p>The best plans are neither sandbagged or full of hot air. They find the right equilibrium in between. But, they then provide extra incentives to the team for beating plan by different levels. This approach motivates the team to find breakthrough growth, but not at the expense to morale of having a plan perpetually <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/tomfishburne/2008/06/the-five-stages.html">out-of-reach</a>. &#0160;</p><p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f3659380970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Missingplan" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f3659380970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f3659380970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="Missingplan" /></a> </p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834013486644af1970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-08-22T21:27:22Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401348663cdf2970calways in betahttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-08-22T21:27:22Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348663cdb4970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100823.inbeta" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401348663cdb4970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348663cdb4970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100823.inbeta" /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000wSO.OhVUMww/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Beta releases used to be restricted to small groups of Beta testers. A Beta release allowed you to work out the bugs before a general market release. When a product shipped, it was considered final until the next release.&#0160; </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Nowadays, many products are in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_beta">perpetual Beta</a>&#0160;(and we&#39;re all Beta testers).&#0160;Gmail, Flickr and del.icio.us carry the Beta designation for years at a time as the products are developed and refined in the open. This creates a mindset of continuous improvement and treats users as co-developers. The pace of innovation happens so quickly that traditional release cycles don&#39;t apply.&#0160; </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; ">This perpetual Beta mindset was born in web-based product development, but it&#39;s instructive for anyone in business. As <a href="http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/you-are-always-in-beta/">Olivier Blanchard</a> outlines:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><em>&quot;What does being in Beta mean? It means being in perpetual test mode. It means constantly asking “how could I do this better,” even when this worked just fine. How can I listen better? How could I improve customer service? How can I make my billing process smoother? How could we improve the UI/UX of our websites? How can I engage my user community even better? How could this brochure have been better?&quot;&#0160; </em></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; ">When I worked at Dreyer&#39;s, we talked about &quot;Ready, Fire, Aim&quot; as our development philosophy. We fired quickly for speed to market and then perpetually improved our aim. The overlooked word is &quot;ready&quot;, which is important to avoid shooting yourself in the foot.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Apple recently discovered that their are limits to what consumers will tolerate in bleeding edge products.&#0160;</span><span style="font-size: 13px; ">While Apple never describes its live product launches as Beta, consumers often put up with bugs as the cost of being an early adopter.&#0160;</span><span style="font-size: 13px; ">When the antenna failed on the iPhone 4, the consumer backlash was deafening. Apple learned that consumers may be prepared to put up with shoddy battery life, but the antenna snafu crossed the line. They also learned that their blame-shifting response to the crisis (asking consumers to hold their phone differently) only <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5573179/the-semi+solutions-for-iphone-4-reception-problems-so-far">fanned the fire</a>.&#0160;</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><a href="http://russelldavies.typepad.com/planning/2007/02/blurry.html">Russell Davies</a> shares this example of how Flickr positively handles the inevitable mistakes in bleeding edge product development.&#0160;</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; "> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f33fee61970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Flickr" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f33fee61970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f33fee61970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="Flickr" /></a> <br /><em>&quot;One of the other interesting characteristics about always being in beta is accepting that mistakes are going to happen. And preparing for them. And thinking about, maybe, trying to turn them into opportunities. Flickr&#39;s attempt to turn a &#39;we&#39;re down&#39; message into fun probably annoyed some people but I liked it are clearly so did <a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=flickrcolourcontest&amp;w=all&amp;s=int">lots of other people</a>. When you&#39;re moving at the speed that the modern world demands mistakes are inevitable. Being surprised by them shouldn&#39;t be. Mistakes are also when the veneer tends to slip, if there is a veneer. The authentic voice of a brand or organisation is exposed when something goes wrong, if it&#39;s not the same as the voice you normally speak with people will notice.&quot;&#0160;</em><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><picture>One of my favorite new brands is designed entirely around an &quot;Always in Beta&quot; mindset: <a href="http://www.betabrand.com">BetaBrand</a>, in San Francisco. Every Tuesday at noon, they announce a new limited-edition fashion invention to their mailing list. This week, it&#39;s the World&#39;s First Farmer&#39;s Market Backpack. BetaBrand continually releases new products and invites consumers to participate. Only selling online allows them to have weekly limited-edition launches as a physical product. Small-batch local production allows them a product development cycle that is only six weeks long.&#0160;</picture></span></p><p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f33ff060970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Betabrand" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f33ff060970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f33ff060970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="Betabrand" /></a> <br />Every brand should have a new idea of the week.&#0160;</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348663cdb4970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100823.inbeta" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401348663cdb4970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348663cdb4970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100823.inbeta" /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000wSO.OhVUMww/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Beta releases used to be restricted to small groups of Beta testers. A Beta release allowed you to work out the bugs before a general market release. When a product shipped, it was considered final until the next release.&#0160; </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Nowadays, many products are in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_beta">perpetual Beta</a>&#0160;(and we&#39;re all Beta testers).&#0160;Gmail, Flickr and del.icio.us carry the Beta designation for years at a time as the products are developed and refined in the open. This creates a mindset of continuous improvement and treats users as co-developers. The pace of innovation happens so quickly that traditional release cycles don&#39;t apply.&#0160; </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; ">This perpetual Beta mindset was born in web-based product development, but it&#39;s instructive for anyone in business. As <a href="http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/you-are-always-in-beta/">Olivier Blanchard</a> outlines:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><em>&quot;What does being in Beta mean? It means being in perpetual test mode. It means constantly asking “how could I do this better,” even when this worked just fine. How can I listen better? How could I improve customer service? How can I make my billing process smoother? How could we improve the UI/UX of our websites? How can I engage my user community even better? How could this brochure have been better?&quot;&#0160; </em></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; ">When I worked at Dreyer&#39;s, we talked about &quot;Ready, Fire, Aim&quot; as our development philosophy. We fired quickly for speed to market and then perpetually improved our aim. The overlooked word is &quot;ready&quot;, which is important to avoid shooting yourself in the foot.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Apple recently discovered that their are limits to what consumers will tolerate in bleeding edge products.&#0160;</span><span style="font-size: 13px; ">While Apple never describes its live product launches as Beta, consumers often put up with bugs as the cost of being an early adopter.&#0160;</span><span style="font-size: 13px; ">When the antenna failed on the iPhone 4, the consumer backlash was deafening. Apple learned that consumers may be prepared to put up with shoddy battery life, but the antenna snafu crossed the line. They also learned that their blame-shifting response to the crisis (asking consumers to hold their phone differently) only <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5573179/the-semi+solutions-for-iphone-4-reception-problems-so-far">fanned the fire</a>.&#0160;</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><a href="http://russelldavies.typepad.com/planning/2007/02/blurry.html">Russell Davies</a> shares this example of how Flickr positively handles the inevitable mistakes in bleeding edge product development.&#0160;</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; "> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f33fee61970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Flickr" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f33fee61970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f33fee61970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="Flickr" /></a> <br /><em>&quot;One of the other interesting characteristics about always being in beta is accepting that mistakes are going to happen. And preparing for them. And thinking about, maybe, trying to turn them into opportunities. Flickr&#39;s attempt to turn a &#39;we&#39;re down&#39; message into fun probably annoyed some people but I liked it are clearly so did <a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=flickrcolourcontest&amp;w=all&amp;s=int">lots of other people</a>. When you&#39;re moving at the speed that the modern world demands mistakes are inevitable. Being surprised by them shouldn&#39;t be. Mistakes are also when the veneer tends to slip, if there is a veneer. The authentic voice of a brand or organisation is exposed when something goes wrong, if it&#39;s not the same as the voice you normally speak with people will notice.&quot;&#0160;</em><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><picture>One of my favorite new brands is designed entirely around an &quot;Always in Beta&quot; mindset: <a href="http://www.betabrand.com">BetaBrand</a>, in San Francisco. Every Tuesday at noon, they announce a new limited-edition fashion invention to their mailing list. This week, it&#39;s the World&#39;s First Farmer&#39;s Market Backpack. BetaBrand continually releases new products and invites consumers to participate. Only selling online allows them to have weekly limited-edition launches as a physical product. Small-batch local production allows them a product development cycle that is only six weeks long.&#0160;</picture></span></p><p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f33ff060970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Betabrand" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f33ff060970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f33ff060970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="Betabrand" /></a> <br />Every brand should have a new idea of the week.&#0160;</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340134863a520e970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-08-15T22:09:32Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340134863a1fad970cjumping the sharkhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-08-15T22:09:31Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134863a3956970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100816.jumpingshark" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340134863a3956970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134863a3956970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100816.jumpingshark" /></a> <br /><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this week&#39;s cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000yw0GIDdU.Xo/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p><p>My friend Michelle introduced me to the expression, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark">Jumping the Shark</a>, which is used to describe &quot;the moment of downturn for a previously successful enterprise.&quot; It comes from the fifth season of the classic American sitcom, Happy Days, when Fonzie donned swim trunks and his trademark leather jacket to perform a ridiculous water ski jump over a shark.</p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f316c4aa970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Jumpingtheshark" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f316c4aa970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f316c4aa970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Jumpingtheshark" /></a> The guy who coined the expression describes it as <em>&quot;a&#0160;defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on...it&#39;s all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it &#39;Jumping the Shark.&#39; From that moment on, the program will simply never be the same.&quot;</em></p> <p>Indiana Jones &quot;jumped the shark&quot; in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull when Indiana was hit by a nuclear weapon blast while hiding in a lead-lined fridge. &#0160;While the fridge was hurled a great distance and everything else was&#0160;obliterated, Indiana emerged unscathed. This lead to a similar expression, &quot;Nuking the Fridge&quot;, which was one of the top buzz words of 2008.</p> <p>Brands and businesses &quot;jump the shark&quot; and &quot;nuke the fridge&quot; all the time, often in a desperate attempt to reignite growth. They abandon what made them successful and drive away their most loyal consumers.</p> <p>In her wonderful book,&#0160;<a href="http://www.youngmemoon.com/ym/home.html" style="color: blue !important; text-decoration: underline !important; cursor: text !important; ">Different</a>,&#0160;Youngme Moon applies&#0160;&quot;Jumping the Shark&quot; to product categories, which often reach a point of product proliferation where they leave their consumers behind. &#0160;Bottled water is a classic example of this.</p> <p><em>&quot;As these categories mature, the products within them get progressively better over time, with consumers benefiting along the way. But somewhere along the line these categories jump the shark, having undergone too many plot twists and turns for consumers to stomach any more.&quot;</em></p> <p>Youngme describes this as &quot;a consumption trend that I contend is one of the most significant challenges facing business today.&quot;</p> <p>In the rush to maintain momentum, there is huge pressure to &quot;jump the shark&quot;. &#0160;Jumping the shark attracts new attention and feels necessary in the game of competitive one-upmanship. But the volume of attention is far less important than the caliber of attention. And more important than grabbing fresh attention is maintaining the loyalty of those already buying.</p> <p>The risk of jumping the shark isn&#39;t getting eaten by the shark. It&#39;s leaving your loyalists behind.&#0160;</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134863a3956970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100816.jumpingshark" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340134863a3956970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134863a3956970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " title="100816.jumpingshark" /></a> <br /><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this week&#39;s cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000yw0GIDdU.Xo/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p><p>My friend Michelle introduced me to the expression, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark">Jumping the Shark</a>, which is used to describe &quot;the moment of downturn for a previously successful enterprise.&quot; It comes from the fifth season of the classic American sitcom, Happy Days, when Fonzie donned swim trunks and his trademark leather jacket to perform a ridiculous water ski jump over a shark.</p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f316c4aa970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Jumpingtheshark" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f316c4aa970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f316c4aa970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Jumpingtheshark" /></a> The guy who coined the expression describes it as <em>&quot;a&#0160;defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on...it&#39;s all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it &#39;Jumping the Shark.&#39; From that moment on, the program will simply never be the same.&quot;</em></p> <p>Indiana Jones &quot;jumped the shark&quot; in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull when Indiana was hit by a nuclear weapon blast while hiding in a lead-lined fridge. &#0160;While the fridge was hurled a great distance and everything else was&#0160;obliterated, Indiana emerged unscathed. This lead to a similar expression, &quot;Nuking the Fridge&quot;, which was one of the top buzz words of 2008.</p> <p>Brands and businesses &quot;jump the shark&quot; and &quot;nuke the fridge&quot; all the time, often in a desperate attempt to reignite growth. They abandon what made them successful and drive away their most loyal consumers.</p> <p>In her wonderful book,&#0160;<a href="http://www.youngmemoon.com/ym/home.html" style="color: blue !important; text-decoration: underline !important; cursor: text !important; ">Different</a>,&#0160;Youngme Moon applies&#0160;&quot;Jumping the Shark&quot; to product categories, which often reach a point of product proliferation where they leave their consumers behind. &#0160;Bottled water is a classic example of this.</p> <p><em>&quot;As these categories mature, the products within them get progressively better over time, with consumers benefiting along the way. But somewhere along the line these categories jump the shark, having undergone too many plot twists and turns for consumers to stomach any more.&quot;</em></p> <p>Youngme describes this as &quot;a consumption trend that I contend is one of the most significant challenges facing business today.&quot;</p> <p>In the rush to maintain momentum, there is huge pressure to &quot;jump the shark&quot;. &#0160;Jumping the shark attracts new attention and feels necessary in the game of competitive one-upmanship. But the volume of attention is far less important than the caliber of attention. And more important than grabbing fresh attention is maintaining the loyalty of those already buying.</p> <p>The risk of jumping the shark isn&#39;t getting eaten by the shark. It&#39;s leaving your loyalists behind.&#0160;</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834013485ea2fd6970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-08-01T17:11:39Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c451518834013485e9ec5f970cmake the logo biggerhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-08-01T17:11:38Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f2c66088970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100802.logobigger" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f2c66088970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f2c66088970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this week&#39;s cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000sIAm2Vt1ONU/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>The quickest way to rankle a creative director is to ask to make the logo bigger. It&#39;s an age-old feud that has existed since the dawn of advertising. It&#39;s often the first piece of feedback shared, and has even led to its own <a href="http://www.creativetechs.com/iq/make_the_logo_bigger_the_song.html">song</a>:&#0160;</p> <p><em>&quot;Make the logo as big as you can. <br />And make the logo bigger. <br />I don&#39;t want to tell you how to do your job. <br />But, could you make the logo bigger? <br />Bigger, bigger, make it big. <br />Make the logo bigger.&quot;&#0160; </em></p> <p>A bigger logo won&#39;t fix a small brand. It won&#39;t make a brand more remarkable. There is no direct correlation between the size of a logo and the effectiveness of an ad. But, in the qualitative world of creative review, it&#39;s a tangible, quantitative response. So, marketers give this feedback a lot, even if it&#39;s superficial and even if it detracts from the strength of the creative execution.</p><p>The deeper issue is usually that the ad doesn&#39;t link closely enough to the brand, but the debate often devolves into a tug-o-war on logo size.</p> <p>That said, branding has to be prominent enough to link a creative message to a brand. There is a difference between advertising and pure entertainment after all. Sometimes, a creative director, possibly anticipating a tug-o-war over logo size, starts off with an execution where the branding is so understated that consumers will never take away which brand was affiliated with it, no matter how entertaining the ad was.&#0160;</p> <p>One creative director tellingly puts it this way, &quot;Little does the client realize that your final allegiance is not to them, but to the quality of the work, something that you cannot in good conscience permit them to jeopardize with their lack of taste.&quot; He goes on to advise a <a href="http://www.core77.com/hack2work/2009/09/how_to_make_your_clients_logo.asp">sneaky con game</a>&#0160;on &quot;How to make your client&#39;s logo bigger without making their logo bigger&quot; that somewhat resembles this other cartoon I drew in 2007.</p> <p></p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013485ea0380970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="070326.mile" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834013485ea0380970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013485ea0380970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br /><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2007-Cartoons/G0000p_qnLVmpR_w/I0000RXPLkwc2NOs">click here</a>) &#0160;</span><p>In a classic Mexican stand-off like this, no one wins.&#0160;Get past the standoff, and instead of arguing about something as superficial as logo size, you&#39;ll have time to come up with ways to make your brand more impactful.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f2c66088970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100802.logobigger" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f2c66088970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f2c66088970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this week&#39;s cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000sIAm2Vt1ONU/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>The quickest way to rankle a creative director is to ask to make the logo bigger. It&#39;s an age-old feud that has existed since the dawn of advertising. It&#39;s often the first piece of feedback shared, and has even led to its own <a href="http://www.creativetechs.com/iq/make_the_logo_bigger_the_song.html">song</a>:&#0160;</p> <p><em>&quot;Make the logo as big as you can. <br />And make the logo bigger. <br />I don&#39;t want to tell you how to do your job. <br />But, could you make the logo bigger? <br />Bigger, bigger, make it big. <br />Make the logo bigger.&quot;&#0160; </em></p> <p>A bigger logo won&#39;t fix a small brand. It won&#39;t make a brand more remarkable. There is no direct correlation between the size of a logo and the effectiveness of an ad. But, in the qualitative world of creative review, it&#39;s a tangible, quantitative response. So, marketers give this feedback a lot, even if it&#39;s superficial and even if it detracts from the strength of the creative execution.</p><p>The deeper issue is usually that the ad doesn&#39;t link closely enough to the brand, but the debate often devolves into a tug-o-war on logo size.</p> <p>That said, branding has to be prominent enough to link a creative message to a brand. There is a difference between advertising and pure entertainment after all. Sometimes, a creative director, possibly anticipating a tug-o-war over logo size, starts off with an execution where the branding is so understated that consumers will never take away which brand was affiliated with it, no matter how entertaining the ad was.&#0160;</p> <p>One creative director tellingly puts it this way, &quot;Little does the client realize that your final allegiance is not to them, but to the quality of the work, something that you cannot in good conscience permit them to jeopardize with their lack of taste.&quot; He goes on to advise a <a href="http://www.core77.com/hack2work/2009/09/how_to_make_your_clients_logo.asp">sneaky con game</a>&#0160;on &quot;How to make your client&#39;s logo bigger without making their logo bigger&quot; that somewhat resembles this other cartoon I drew in 2007.</p> <p></p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013485ea0380970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="070326.mile" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834013485ea0380970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834013485ea0380970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br /><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to instantly license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2007-Cartoons/G0000p_qnLVmpR_w/I0000RXPLkwc2NOs">click here</a>) &#0160;</span><p>In a classic Mexican stand-off like this, no one wins.&#0160;Get past the standoff, and instead of arguing about something as superficial as logo size, you&#39;ll have time to come up with ways to make your brand more impactful.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133f28c969f970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-07-26T00:20:10Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c451518834013485abf54b970cpost-productionhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-07-26T00:20:09Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><span style="font-size: 11px; "><span style="line-height: 15px; font-size: small; "> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f28ca2d6970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100726.postproduction" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f28ca2d6970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f28ca2d6970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br /></span>(to instantly license this week&#39;s cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000X87szV0yd4s/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p><p>If you&#39;re ever on a video shoot, you&#39;ll no doubt hear someone say, &quot;we&#39;ll fix it in post-production&quot;. &#0160;This usually happens toward the end of a long day, when everyone is tired and there&#39;s a sticking point preventing everyone from going home. &#0160;Sometimes the client hasn&#39;t seen what they&#39;re looking for. &#0160;Sometimes there&#39;s a stalemate on art direction. The promise to fix &quot;in post-production&quot; allows everyone to break and address the problem later.</p><p>But it&#39;s usually an empty promise. &#0160;Post-production isn&#39;t a magic wand. &#0160;It can fine-tune, but it can&#39;t resolve fundamental differences of opinion. &#0160;It also can&#39;t fix massive mistakes. When there&#39;s a real sticking point, it&#39;s better to buck up, make another pot of coffee, and do another take.</p><p>Contrast that approach with this 2003 Honda advert, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cog_(advertisement)">Cog</a>. &#0160;It&#39;s a 2-minute advert where disassembled pieces of a Honda Accord are laid out on a floor and an elaborate chain reaction is set in motion by one transmission bearing. &#0160;What&#39;s particularly stunning is that the team forced themselves to make the ad in two uninterrupted 60-second takes, without CGI. &#0160;This required accuracy to a 16th of an inch and they had to overcome changes in ambient&#0160;temperature&#0160;and settling dust. &#0160;It took 90 minutes just to get the first transmission bearing to roll correctly into the second. &#0160;The whole piece required 606 takes, but the result is pure magic.</p><p></p><p align="center" class="asset asset-video" style="display: block; margin: 0 auto;"><object height="278" width="450"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_ve4M4UsJQo&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="278" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_ve4M4UsJQo&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" /></object></p><p></p><p>This ad wouldn&#39;t have been nearly so remarkable had they faked it. &#0160;Partly as a result of their exacting discipline to get it right on set, this Honda ad received more awards than any commercial in history.</p><p>In a general sense, businesses often operate as if there is post-production to rely on. There is a manufactured wall between how a business operates internally and how it is designed to be seen by the outside world.</p><p></p><p>I once heard someone say that working in the best businesses was like working on live TV. There&#39;s no opportunity for post-production so you&#39;d better be authentic the first time around. Remarkable things happen on live TV.&#0160;The best brands brand from the inside out. And consumers are increasingly savvy enough to figure out the difference.</p><p></p><p></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; "><span style="line-height: 15px; font-size: small; "> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f28ca2d6970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100726.postproduction" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f28ca2d6970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f28ca2d6970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br /></span>(to instantly license this week&#39;s cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000X87szV0yd4s/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p><p>If you&#39;re ever on a video shoot, you&#39;ll no doubt hear someone say, &quot;we&#39;ll fix it in post-production&quot;. &#0160;This usually happens toward the end of a long day, when everyone is tired and there&#39;s a sticking point preventing everyone from going home. &#0160;Sometimes the client hasn&#39;t seen what they&#39;re looking for. &#0160;Sometimes there&#39;s a stalemate on art direction. The promise to fix &quot;in post-production&quot; allows everyone to break and address the problem later.</p><p>But it&#39;s usually an empty promise. &#0160;Post-production isn&#39;t a magic wand. &#0160;It can fine-tune, but it can&#39;t resolve fundamental differences of opinion. &#0160;It also can&#39;t fix massive mistakes. When there&#39;s a real sticking point, it&#39;s better to buck up, make another pot of coffee, and do another take.</p><p>Contrast that approach with this 2003 Honda advert, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cog_(advertisement)">Cog</a>. &#0160;It&#39;s a 2-minute advert where disassembled pieces of a Honda Accord are laid out on a floor and an elaborate chain reaction is set in motion by one transmission bearing. &#0160;What&#39;s particularly stunning is that the team forced themselves to make the ad in two uninterrupted 60-second takes, without CGI. &#0160;This required accuracy to a 16th of an inch and they had to overcome changes in ambient&#0160;temperature&#0160;and settling dust. &#0160;It took 90 minutes just to get the first transmission bearing to roll correctly into the second. &#0160;The whole piece required 606 takes, but the result is pure magic.</p><p></p><p align="center" class="asset asset-video" style="display: block; margin: 0 auto;"><object height="278" width="450"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_ve4M4UsJQo&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="278" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_ve4M4UsJQo&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" /></object></p><p></p><p>This ad wouldn&#39;t have been nearly so remarkable had they faked it. &#0160;Partly as a result of their exacting discipline to get it right on set, this Honda ad received more awards than any commercial in history.</p><p>In a general sense, businesses often operate as if there is post-production to rely on. There is a manufactured wall between how a business operates internally and how it is designed to be seen by the outside world.</p><p></p><p>I once heard someone say that working in the best businesses was like working on live TV. There&#39;s no opportunity for post-production so you&#39;d better be authentic the first time around. Remarkable things happen on live TV.&#0160;The best brands brand from the inside out. And consumers are increasingly savvy enough to figure out the difference.</p><p></p><p></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133f26196ec970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-07-19T03:08:23Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401348586d694970cdevil's advocatehttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-07-19T03:08:23Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348586d0c6970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100719.devilsadvocate" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401348586d0c6970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348586d0c6970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this week&#39;s cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Most-Recent-Cartoons/G0000M5VkuiSH_T0/I0000BQ7mdmtkvIc/P00005M0JL1esOOc">click here</a>)</span></p> <p></p> <p>I&#39;ve been hooked this week by Seth Godin&#39;s latest book, <a href="http://www.squidoo.com/linchpin">Linchpin</a>. Seth briefly profiles the Devil&#39;s Advocate, which he describes as a &quot;card-carrying member of the Resistance&quot; -- a force that prevents remarkable ideas from coming to life. In his blog, Seth occasionally advises his readers to &quot;uninvite the devil&#39;s advocate, since the devil doesn&#39;t need one, he&#39;s doing fine.&quot;&#0160;</p><p>The Devil&#39;s Advocate is a regular staffer in most offices. &quot;Let me play Devil&#39;s Advocate&quot; is a socially acceptable way to shoot down an idea. It&#39;s a guise that allows anyone to criticize an idea without offering an alternative. It&#39;s far easier (and safer) to tear down than to create. You can undermine what someone has just proposed without actually challenging them directly.&#0160;</p><p>The Devil&#39;s Advocate is over 400 years old. The Roman Catholic Church officially created the <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil&#39;s_advocate">Advocatus Diaboli</a></em> position in 1587 to be the official skeptic when debating sainthood applications. His job was to be the official naysayer: slander the candidate&#39;s character and argue that the miracles were fraudulent.&#0160;</p><p>In 1983, Pope John Paul abolished the Devil&#39;s Advocate position. As a result of this reform, he was able to canonize 500 and beatify 1,300 people in his tenure, compared to only 98 canonizations from all of his predecessors in the 20th century.&#0160;</p><p>When the Devil&#39;s Advocate lost his job with the Church, he started to hang out in business meetings. &#0160;Swap the process of canonizing saints to canonizing ideas, and you can see the wet blanket effect that this role creates. It&#39;s very hard to overcome the Devil&#39;s Advocate&#39;s argument because belief in an idea is an act of faith, not just an act of proof. There will always be reasonable doubt and the Devil&#39;s Advocate is there to seed it.&#0160; </p><p>If the Roman Catholic Church can abolish the Devil&#39;s Advocate, why not your business? That&#39;s not to say that you remove critical thought from the idea vetting process. Just channel that critical thought through a positive lens. Force yourself to start every sentence with &quot;Yes, and&quot; to make the idea stronger, not weaker, by the composite effect of the crowd. Don&#39;t offer criticism unless you have an alternative solution to share. And don&#39;t be afraid to take leaps of faith. Not all remarkable ideas can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.&#0160; </p><p>In your next meeting, ban the Devil&#39;s Advocate and invite the Angel&#39;s Advocate instead.</p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348586d0c6970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100719.devilsadvocate" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401348586d0c6970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348586d0c6970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this week&#39;s cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Most-Recent-Cartoons/G0000M5VkuiSH_T0/I0000BQ7mdmtkvIc/P00005M0JL1esOOc">click here</a>)</span></p> <p></p> <p>I&#39;ve been hooked this week by Seth Godin&#39;s latest book, <a href="http://www.squidoo.com/linchpin">Linchpin</a>. Seth briefly profiles the Devil&#39;s Advocate, which he describes as a &quot;card-carrying member of the Resistance&quot; -- a force that prevents remarkable ideas from coming to life. In his blog, Seth occasionally advises his readers to &quot;uninvite the devil&#39;s advocate, since the devil doesn&#39;t need one, he&#39;s doing fine.&quot;&#0160;</p><p>The Devil&#39;s Advocate is a regular staffer in most offices. &quot;Let me play Devil&#39;s Advocate&quot; is a socially acceptable way to shoot down an idea. It&#39;s a guise that allows anyone to criticize an idea without offering an alternative. It&#39;s far easier (and safer) to tear down than to create. You can undermine what someone has just proposed without actually challenging them directly.&#0160;</p><p>The Devil&#39;s Advocate is over 400 years old. The Roman Catholic Church officially created the <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil&#39;s_advocate">Advocatus Diaboli</a></em> position in 1587 to be the official skeptic when debating sainthood applications. His job was to be the official naysayer: slander the candidate&#39;s character and argue that the miracles were fraudulent.&#0160;</p><p>In 1983, Pope John Paul abolished the Devil&#39;s Advocate position. As a result of this reform, he was able to canonize 500 and beatify 1,300 people in his tenure, compared to only 98 canonizations from all of his predecessors in the 20th century.&#0160;</p><p>When the Devil&#39;s Advocate lost his job with the Church, he started to hang out in business meetings. &#0160;Swap the process of canonizing saints to canonizing ideas, and you can see the wet blanket effect that this role creates. It&#39;s very hard to overcome the Devil&#39;s Advocate&#39;s argument because belief in an idea is an act of faith, not just an act of proof. There will always be reasonable doubt and the Devil&#39;s Advocate is there to seed it.&#0160; </p><p>If the Roman Catholic Church can abolish the Devil&#39;s Advocate, why not your business? That&#39;s not to say that you remove critical thought from the idea vetting process. Just channel that critical thought through a positive lens. Force yourself to start every sentence with &quot;Yes, and&quot; to make the idea stronger, not weaker, by the composite effect of the crowd. Don&#39;t offer criticism unless you have an alternative solution to share. And don&#39;t be afraid to take leaps of faith. Not all remarkable ideas can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.&#0160; </p><p>In your next meeting, ban the Devil&#39;s Advocate and invite the Angel&#39;s Advocate instead.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340134855e6886970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-07-12T04:35:25Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340133f23736a9970bbrand archetypeshttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-07-12T04:35:24Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134855cfa09970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100712.archetypes" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340134855cfa09970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134855cfa09970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br /><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000mtcU4CsTQ1M/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)&#0160;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; "><span style="font-size: 12px; "></span><span style="font-size: 13px; ">I learned the power of archetypes from Joseph Campbell&#39;s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Myth">classic interview</a> with Bill Moyers. The explore the universal themes, characters, and stories that repeat throughout history, appearing in every form of human expression from the Bible to Star Wars. These archetypes repeat because they resonate deeply with human consciousness.&#0160; </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; "><span style="font-size: 13px; ">I first saw Joseph Campbell&#39;s work applied to brands at General Mills, when the Wheaties team worked hard to understand and unlock &quot;The Hero&quot; archetype. I then learned that TBWA/Chiat used the archetypes as part of their exploratory work with brands.&#0160; </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; "><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Not surprisingly, some of the most meaningful brands have tapped universal archetypes. These brands stand for something powerful to the consumers who buy them.&#0160;</span></span></p> <p></p> <ul> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Nike --&gt; The Hero</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Harley Davidson --&gt; The Outlaw</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Pampers --&gt; The Helper</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Virgin --&gt; The Jester</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Ben &amp; Jerry&#39;s --&gt; The Innocent</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Patagonia --&gt; The Adventurer</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Charles Schwab --&gt; The Sage</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">And so on&#0160;</span></li> </ul> <span style="font-size: 13px; ">Marketers spend a lot of time drafting brand pyramids, positioning statements, and messaging. Most of these are wordsmithing exercises. What can be more powerful is to understand your brand archetype. Mapping your brand to an archetype forces you to choose. The best brands narrow to one or two archetypes. Without narrowing, a brand is trying to be all things to all people. It ends up standing for nothing. When brands stand for nothing, the only way it can compete is on price.&#0160;</span><p></p> <p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><span style="font-size: small; "> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f238a773970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Label" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f238a773970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f238a773970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Label" /></a></span>Last week, I heard Dan Germain give a talk about <a href="http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk">innocent</a> (the UK smoothie business where he is Head of Creative). Not surprisingly, innocent represents &quot;The Innocent&quot; archetype, with it&#39;s fresh-eyed approach to the beverage market. As part of the brand history, Dan shared that the brand was first called &quot;Fast Tractor&quot;, not &quot;innocent&quot;. They created a smoothie with a short time from field to bottle, and &quot;Fast Tractor&quot; reinforced that positioning. &quot;Fast Tractor&quot; may fit a positioning statement, but does it stand for something greater?&#0160;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><labels>Later on, they migrated to &quot;innocent&quot;, which tapped a universal archetype. The brand emerged with a similar playbook as Ben &amp; Jerry&#39;s, and consumers instantly knew what it meant.&#0160; </labels></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><labels>All brands have the potential to tap and leverage a universal archetype. I found some useful guidance from Olivier&#39;s Blanchard in a post called &quot;<a href="http://thebrandbuilder.blogspot.com/2008/02/archetypes-and-brands.html">Archetypes and Brands</a>&quot;. He includes this exerpt from a piece from Jon Howard-Spink called &quot;<a href="http://www.livingbrands.co.uk/Assests/Articles/Brand%20Archetyping%20(Admap%20article%201).pdf">Using Archetypes to Build Stronger Brands</a>.&quot;</labels></span></p> <p><em>&quot;I find it more exciting to think of myself as the author of eternal brand stories than as someone who writes strategy documents and brand pyramids.&quot;</em></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134855cfa09970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100712.archetypes" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340134855cfa09970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134855cfa09970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br /><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000mtcU4CsTQ1M/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)&#0160;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; "><span style="font-size: 12px; "></span><span style="font-size: 13px; ">I learned the power of archetypes from Joseph Campbell&#39;s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Myth">classic interview</a> with Bill Moyers. The explore the universal themes, characters, and stories that repeat throughout history, appearing in every form of human expression from the Bible to Star Wars. These archetypes repeat because they resonate deeply with human consciousness.&#0160; </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; "><span style="font-size: 13px; ">I first saw Joseph Campbell&#39;s work applied to brands at General Mills, when the Wheaties team worked hard to understand and unlock &quot;The Hero&quot; archetype. I then learned that TBWA/Chiat used the archetypes as part of their exploratory work with brands.&#0160; </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; "><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Not surprisingly, some of the most meaningful brands have tapped universal archetypes. These brands stand for something powerful to the consumers who buy them.&#0160;</span></span></p> <p></p> <ul> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Nike --&gt; The Hero</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Harley Davidson --&gt; The Outlaw</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Pampers --&gt; The Helper</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Virgin --&gt; The Jester</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Ben &amp; Jerry&#39;s --&gt; The Innocent</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Patagonia --&gt; The Adventurer</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">Charles Schwab --&gt; The Sage</span></li> <li><span style="font-size: 13px; ">And so on&#0160;</span></li> </ul> <span style="font-size: 13px; ">Marketers spend a lot of time drafting brand pyramids, positioning statements, and messaging. Most of these are wordsmithing exercises. What can be more powerful is to understand your brand archetype. Mapping your brand to an archetype forces you to choose. The best brands narrow to one or two archetypes. Without narrowing, a brand is trying to be all things to all people. It ends up standing for nothing. When brands stand for nothing, the only way it can compete is on price.&#0160;</span><p></p> <p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><span style="font-size: small; "> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f238a773970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Label" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f238a773970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f238a773970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Label" /></a></span>Last week, I heard Dan Germain give a talk about <a href="http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk">innocent</a> (the UK smoothie business where he is Head of Creative). Not surprisingly, innocent represents &quot;The Innocent&quot; archetype, with it&#39;s fresh-eyed approach to the beverage market. As part of the brand history, Dan shared that the brand was first called &quot;Fast Tractor&quot;, not &quot;innocent&quot;. They created a smoothie with a short time from field to bottle, and &quot;Fast Tractor&quot; reinforced that positioning. &quot;Fast Tractor&quot; may fit a positioning statement, but does it stand for something greater?&#0160;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><labels>Later on, they migrated to &quot;innocent&quot;, which tapped a universal archetype. The brand emerged with a similar playbook as Ben &amp; Jerry&#39;s, and consumers instantly knew what it meant.&#0160; </labels></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 13px; "><labels>All brands have the potential to tap and leverage a universal archetype. I found some useful guidance from Olivier&#39;s Blanchard in a post called &quot;<a href="http://thebrandbuilder.blogspot.com/2008/02/archetypes-and-brands.html">Archetypes and Brands</a>&quot;. He includes this exerpt from a piece from Jon Howard-Spink called &quot;<a href="http://www.livingbrands.co.uk/Assests/Articles/Brand%20Archetyping%20(Admap%20article%201).pdf">Using Archetypes to Build Stronger Brands</a>.&quot;</labels></span></p> <p><em>&quot;I find it more exciting to think of myself as the author of eternal brand stories than as someone who writes strategy documents and brand pyramids.&quot;</em></p> <p></p> <p></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834013485099489970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-06-27T23:15:53Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401348508b847970cnew-featuritishttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-06-27T23:15:52Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348508b3a0970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100628.featuritis" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401348508b3a0970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348508b3a0970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 12px; "></span><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000rQnSTbZkTNo">click here</a>)</span></p><p>The very first Saturday Night Live in 1975 featured a <a href="http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75atriple.phtml">mock-commercial</a> with George Carlin making fun of the Gillette Trac II, which was the first two-blade razor. SNL spoofed it with a fake three-blade razor called the Triple-Trac, and closed with a tagline, &quot;The Triple-Trac. Because You&#39;ll Believe Anything&quot;.&#0160;</p><p>Twenty-three years later, in 1998, Gillette launched the Mach3 razor, the first three-blade razor. I heard a Gillette executive give a talk about the Mach3 soon after launch, and he talked in gushing terms about the innovation. When it came time for questions, someone in the audience asked, &quot;What&#39;s next? 4 blades? 5 blades?&quot; Everyone in the room laughed ... except for the guy from Gillette. He replied in complete seriousness, &quot;I can&#39;t comment&quot;.&#0160; </p><p>As it turns out, Wilkinson/Schick launched a four-blade Quattro in 2004, which prompted The Onion to poke fun at the Gillette president with a <a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-blades,11056/">mock-commentary</a>, &quot;Fuck Everything, We&#39;re Doing Five Blades&quot;. And then three years later in 2006, Gillette actually launched a five-blade razor, the Fusion, along with a motorized five-blade version called Fusion Power. Truth is stranger than fiction.&#0160; </p><p>Feature proliferation is the name of the game in new product development. Most innovation in the market is composed of incremental improvements to what&#39;s been done before. Yet those new features often outpace what the consumers actually want. In the case of the Fusion, Gillette had to launch a marketing campaign specifically targeted to their own Mach3 consumers. Instead of campaigning to steal share from competitors, they had to practically beg their own consumers who were plenty happy with the earlier Mach3 to upgrade to the more expensive Fusion. &#0160;They over-served the market.&#0160;</p><p>As Clayton Christensen argues in the Innovator&#39;s Dilemma, the best move when the market is over-served is to innovate from below, not to join the new feature arms race. &#0160;Less can be more. &#0160;Simplicity is the killer app.&#0160;</p><p>The Economist ran a <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/16321516">recent article</a> on this effect in consumer technology, &quot;In Praise of Techno-Austerity&quot;:&#0160; </p><p><em>&quot;There are signs that technologists are waking up to the benefits of minimalism, thanks to two things: feature fatique among consumers who simply want things to work, and strong demand from less affluent consumers in the developing world. It is telling that the market value of Apple, the company most closely associated with simple, elegant high-tech products, recently overtook that of Microsoft, the company with the most notorious case of new-featuritis&quot;.&#0160; </em></p><p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f1e3257e970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Vibram" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f1e3257e970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f1e3257e970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Vibram" /></a> This feature fatique carries to every consumer market, which creates opportunity for brands that think outside the new feature arms race. My favorite recent innovation is <a href="http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/">Vibram Five Fingers</a>, a barefoot running shoe. Rather than engage in the feature one-up-manship of Nike and Adidas, Vibram launched a minimalist product that completely rethinks the nature of a running shoe.&#0160;</p><p>How can you launch the Five Fingers, Wii, or Flip for your category? Focus your energy there, not on adding a sixth or seventh razor blade.</p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348508b3a0970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100628.featuritis" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401348508b3a0970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348508b3a0970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 12px; "></span><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000rQnSTbZkTNo">click here</a>)</span></p><p>The very first Saturday Night Live in 1975 featured a <a href="http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75atriple.phtml">mock-commercial</a> with George Carlin making fun of the Gillette Trac II, which was the first two-blade razor. SNL spoofed it with a fake three-blade razor called the Triple-Trac, and closed with a tagline, &quot;The Triple-Trac. Because You&#39;ll Believe Anything&quot;.&#0160;</p><p>Twenty-three years later, in 1998, Gillette launched the Mach3 razor, the first three-blade razor. I heard a Gillette executive give a talk about the Mach3 soon after launch, and he talked in gushing terms about the innovation. When it came time for questions, someone in the audience asked, &quot;What&#39;s next? 4 blades? 5 blades?&quot; Everyone in the room laughed ... except for the guy from Gillette. He replied in complete seriousness, &quot;I can&#39;t comment&quot;.&#0160; </p><p>As it turns out, Wilkinson/Schick launched a four-blade Quattro in 2004, which prompted The Onion to poke fun at the Gillette president with a <a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-blades,11056/">mock-commentary</a>, &quot;Fuck Everything, We&#39;re Doing Five Blades&quot;. And then three years later in 2006, Gillette actually launched a five-blade razor, the Fusion, along with a motorized five-blade version called Fusion Power. Truth is stranger than fiction.&#0160; </p><p>Feature proliferation is the name of the game in new product development. Most innovation in the market is composed of incremental improvements to what&#39;s been done before. Yet those new features often outpace what the consumers actually want. In the case of the Fusion, Gillette had to launch a marketing campaign specifically targeted to their own Mach3 consumers. Instead of campaigning to steal share from competitors, they had to practically beg their own consumers who were plenty happy with the earlier Mach3 to upgrade to the more expensive Fusion. &#0160;They over-served the market.&#0160;</p><p>As Clayton Christensen argues in the Innovator&#39;s Dilemma, the best move when the market is over-served is to innovate from below, not to join the new feature arms race. &#0160;Less can be more. &#0160;Simplicity is the killer app.&#0160;</p><p>The Economist ran a <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/16321516">recent article</a> on this effect in consumer technology, &quot;In Praise of Techno-Austerity&quot;:&#0160; </p><p><em>&quot;There are signs that technologists are waking up to the benefits of minimalism, thanks to two things: feature fatique among consumers who simply want things to work, and strong demand from less affluent consumers in the developing world. It is telling that the market value of Apple, the company most closely associated with simple, elegant high-tech products, recently overtook that of Microsoft, the company with the most notorious case of new-featuritis&quot;.&#0160; </em></p><p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f1e3257e970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Vibram" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f1e3257e970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f1e3257e970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Vibram" /></a> This feature fatique carries to every consumer market, which creates opportunity for brands that think outside the new feature arms race. My favorite recent innovation is <a href="http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/">Vibram Five Fingers</a>, a barefoot running shoe. Rather than engage in the feature one-up-manship of Nike and Adidas, Vibram launched a minimalist product that completely rethinks the nature of a running shoe.&#0160;</p><p>How can you launch the Five Fingers, Wii, or Flip for your category? Focus your energy there, not on adding a sixth or seventh razor blade.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834013484adc72c970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-06-21T03:57:42Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c451518834013484ad35aa970cafter the brainstormhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-06-21T03:57:42Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f1855e97970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100621.afterthebrainstorm" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f1855e97970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f1855e97970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; "> (to license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000TY8iRW1yf3Q">click here</a>) &#0160;&#0160;</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11px; "></span>Last week I joined one of the better idea generation exercises I&#39;ve experienced in a while. We split into small groups and toured the San Francisco Ferry Building to scout out retail merchandising ideas. The Ferry Building is packed with novel, funky shops like a <a href="http://www.farwestfungi.com/">Far West Fungi</a>, which only sells mushrooms: dried mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, mushroom ice cream -- everything conceivably mushroom-related except for the psychedelic variety. You can learn a lot from experimental retail concepts like that.&#0160;</p><p>As we debriefed afterwards, it struck me that the real challenge is the period after the brainstorm ends. When you distill your notes and pack away the flipcharts and sticky notes, how do you bring the ideas to life without losing momentum and creativity?&#0160; </p><p>As we return to the realties of our day jobs at the end of a brainstorm, we run into road blocks, inertia, committees and other hazards that can water down ideas or shut them down entirely. That&#39;s what organizations do well. They are designed to minimize risk. Bringing an idea to life can feel like making it through a circuitous maze. So much emphasis with innovation is placed on the up-front brainstorm, yet the real acid test is in the day-to-day&#0160;shepherding&#0160;of the idea through the organization.&#0160;</p><p>Thomas Edison famously observed &quot;genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration&quot;. Scott Belsky was inspired by this insight to launch a think tank and conference series called <a href="http://the99percent.com/">The 99 Percent</a>, which has very useful guidance on making it through that maze without giving up. &#0160;Business creativity is not about brainstorming. &#0160;It&#39;s about persevering.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f1855e97970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100621.afterthebrainstorm" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f1855e97970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f1855e97970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; "> (to license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000TY8iRW1yf3Q">click here</a>) &#0160;&#0160;</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11px; "></span>Last week I joined one of the better idea generation exercises I&#39;ve experienced in a while. We split into small groups and toured the San Francisco Ferry Building to scout out retail merchandising ideas. The Ferry Building is packed with novel, funky shops like a <a href="http://www.farwestfungi.com/">Far West Fungi</a>, which only sells mushrooms: dried mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, mushroom ice cream -- everything conceivably mushroom-related except for the psychedelic variety. You can learn a lot from experimental retail concepts like that.&#0160;</p><p>As we debriefed afterwards, it struck me that the real challenge is the period after the brainstorm ends. When you distill your notes and pack away the flipcharts and sticky notes, how do you bring the ideas to life without losing momentum and creativity?&#0160; </p><p>As we return to the realties of our day jobs at the end of a brainstorm, we run into road blocks, inertia, committees and other hazards that can water down ideas or shut them down entirely. That&#39;s what organizations do well. They are designed to minimize risk. Bringing an idea to life can feel like making it through a circuitous maze. So much emphasis with innovation is placed on the up-front brainstorm, yet the real acid test is in the day-to-day&#0160;shepherding&#0160;of the idea through the organization.&#0160;</p><p>Thomas Edison famously observed &quot;genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration&quot;. Scott Belsky was inspired by this insight to launch a think tank and conference series called <a href="http://the99percent.com/">The 99 Percent</a>, which has very useful guidance on making it through that maze without giving up. &#0160;Business creativity is not about brainstorming. &#0160;It&#39;s about persevering.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834013484159cbd970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-06-14T04:07:44Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340133f0eb4a09970blost in translationhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-06-14T04:07:44Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f0eb46ef970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100614.lostintranslation" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f0eb46ef970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f0eb46ef970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000sXhHl6wQg1A/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>I had a "Lost in Translation" moment a couple weeks ago in a meeting with 20 French and Russian executives. It was the first time I'd ever been in a meeting where someone simultaneously translated the discussion into ear pieces. I spent the whole meeting wondering if they really understood what we were trying to communicate. Many of my jokes fell flat and their questions back (through the same translator) seemed like non-sequiturs.</p> <p>This language gap made me think of the cultural gap that exists in business, particularly around innovation. We may all speak English in business life, but that doesn't mean that we speak the same language. Innovation that challenges the status quo is particularly foreign.&nbsp; </p> <p>I once took a class with Clayten Christensen, who wrote The Innovator's Dilemma and coined the term <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_technology">disruptive innovation</a>. He described that businesses typically ignore disruptive innovations. Even if they recognize a disruptive innovation, they are reluctant to take advantage of it, because it threatens their existing business. Often they wait to take action until it is too late.&nbsp; </p> <p>While taking this class, my bike route took me past the Polaroid headquarters in Cambridge. They were a classic case of a business that ignored a disruptive innovation in digital photography. As if to prove Christensen's point, Polaroid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection midway through the class. Failing to acknowledge a disruptive innovation ultimately led to the demise of the company.&nbsp; </p> <p>When trying to advance any form of innovation that challenges the status quo, we have to recognize the cultural intertia that will block those types of projects. Without overcoming the translation gap, those ideas will never get off the ground.</p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f0eb46ef970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100614.lostintranslation" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133f0eb46ef970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133f0eb46ef970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://tomfishburne.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/2010-Cartoons/G0000OHaNzghvFQk/I0000sXhHl6wQg1A/P0000a92SA9QASAE">click here</a>)</span></p> <p>I had a "Lost in Translation" moment a couple weeks ago in a meeting with 20 French and Russian executives. It was the first time I'd ever been in a meeting where someone simultaneously translated the discussion into ear pieces. I spent the whole meeting wondering if they really understood what we were trying to communicate. Many of my jokes fell flat and their questions back (through the same translator) seemed like non-sequiturs.</p> <p>This language gap made me think of the cultural gap that exists in business, particularly around innovation. We may all speak English in business life, but that doesn't mean that we speak the same language. Innovation that challenges the status quo is particularly foreign.&nbsp; </p> <p>I once took a class with Clayten Christensen, who wrote The Innovator's Dilemma and coined the term <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_technology">disruptive innovation</a>. He described that businesses typically ignore disruptive innovations. Even if they recognize a disruptive innovation, they are reluctant to take advantage of it, because it threatens their existing business. Often they wait to take action until it is too late.&nbsp; </p> <p>While taking this class, my bike route took me past the Polaroid headquarters in Cambridge. They were a classic case of a business that ignored a disruptive innovation in digital photography. As if to prove Christensen's point, Polaroid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection midway through the class. Failing to acknowledge a disruptive innovation ultimately led to the demise of the company.&nbsp; </p> <p>When trying to advance any form of innovation that challenges the status quo, we have to recognize the cultural intertia that will block those types of projects. Without overcoming the translation gap, those ideas will never get off the ground.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340134833ec56d970c Tom Fishburne is now following sarah lacy http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/follow2010-06-04T20:25:33Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e55185411c8833sarah lacyhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/persontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133ef5df4fb970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-06-01T04:24:42Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340133ef5df4f6970blaw of the brainstormhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-06-01T04:24:42Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134828d33f5970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100531.lawofthebrainstorm" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340134828d33f5970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134828d33f5970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br /><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://www.photoshelter.com/c/tomfishburne/gallery-img-show/Most-Recent-Cartoons/G0000M5VkuiSH_T0/?_bqG=0&amp;_bqH=eJyzyHBNDHDyLTXyKncLN6yMDK30T0zzMgzPLbKwMrSwMjK1snKP93SxdTcAAl_TsOzSzGCP.BADtQCQaABI1NTXwMvHMLXY3z9Zzd0z3t3Rx8c1KBKbJgDr1B..">click here</a>)</span></p><p>We can thank adman Alex Osbourne for the Brainstorm (he&#39;s the O in the agency BBDO). Alex invented the Brainstorm in 1939 as an alternative to the usual meetings of &quot;discouragement and criticism which so often cramp imagination&quot;.&#0160;</p><p>Alex Osbourne realized that an environment is needed where judgement is suspended and ideas have space to grow. As part of the attitude adjustment, Brainstorm facilitators run through the same set of stock Brainstorming rules: there&#39;s no such thing as a bad idea, quantity counts over quality, encourage wild ideas, etc.&#0160;These rules help attendees shift mental gears from their regular work state of mind.&#0160; </p><p>Tom Kelley, co-founder of IDEO, frames the best rules in this classic 9-year-old Fast Company article, &quot;<a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2001/03/kelley.html?page=0,0">Seven Secrets to Good Brainstorming</a>&quot;.&#0160; </p><p>Those Brainstorming rules everyone agrees to at the beginning of the Brainstorm evaporate the moment we leave that conference room door at the Hilton. Idea generation is one part of the creative process, not the entire process. Brainstorming a mountain of sticky notes with ideas will not overcome the organizational cuts that occur as the ideas are developed.&#0160;</p><p>I toured an IDEO office recently and it&#39;s clear that they live the spirit of suspended judgement each and every day, not just during a scheduled Brainstorm. It&#39;s in their DNA. Imagination continues as the idea develops all the way to completion, even as options are narrowed and choices are made. This everyday business creativity is inherently more enduring than what most companies accomplish in a one-day offsite.&#0160; </p><p>Instead of focusing on the quantity of ideas developed at the front-end of the process, organizations should apply effort to continued creativity as ideas are developed. We should question why our regular office environment promotes &quot;discouragement and criticism which so often cramp imagination&quot;.&#0160; </p><p>Until we solve that more glaring issue, any Brainstorming rules to suspend judgement are superficial are short-lived. The real goal afterall is not just creative ideas at the end of a Brainstorm, but more imaginative products and services that reach consumers and customers. It&#39;s idea development, not idea generation, that counts. &#0160;&#0160;</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134828d33f5970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100531.lawofthebrainstorm" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340134828d33f5970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340134828d33f5970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br /><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://www.photoshelter.com/c/tomfishburne/gallery-img-show/Most-Recent-Cartoons/G0000M5VkuiSH_T0/?_bqG=0&amp;_bqH=eJyzyHBNDHDyLTXyKncLN6yMDK30T0zzMgzPLbKwMrSwMjK1snKP93SxdTcAAl_TsOzSzGCP.BADtQCQaABI1NTXwMvHMLXY3z9Zzd0z3t3Rx8c1KBKbJgDr1B..">click here</a>)</span></p><p>We can thank adman Alex Osbourne for the Brainstorm (he&#39;s the O in the agency BBDO). Alex invented the Brainstorm in 1939 as an alternative to the usual meetings of &quot;discouragement and criticism which so often cramp imagination&quot;.&#0160;</p><p>Alex Osbourne realized that an environment is needed where judgement is suspended and ideas have space to grow. As part of the attitude adjustment, Brainstorm facilitators run through the same set of stock Brainstorming rules: there&#39;s no such thing as a bad idea, quantity counts over quality, encourage wild ideas, etc.&#0160;These rules help attendees shift mental gears from their regular work state of mind.&#0160; </p><p>Tom Kelley, co-founder of IDEO, frames the best rules in this classic 9-year-old Fast Company article, &quot;<a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2001/03/kelley.html?page=0,0">Seven Secrets to Good Brainstorming</a>&quot;.&#0160; </p><p>Those Brainstorming rules everyone agrees to at the beginning of the Brainstorm evaporate the moment we leave that conference room door at the Hilton. Idea generation is one part of the creative process, not the entire process. Brainstorming a mountain of sticky notes with ideas will not overcome the organizational cuts that occur as the ideas are developed.&#0160;</p><p>I toured an IDEO office recently and it&#39;s clear that they live the spirit of suspended judgement each and every day, not just during a scheduled Brainstorm. It&#39;s in their DNA. Imagination continues as the idea develops all the way to completion, even as options are narrowed and choices are made. This everyday business creativity is inherently more enduring than what most companies accomplish in a one-day offsite.&#0160; </p><p>Instead of focusing on the quantity of ideas developed at the front-end of the process, organizations should apply effort to continued creativity as ideas are developed. We should question why our regular office environment promotes &quot;discouragement and criticism which so often cramp imagination&quot;.&#0160; </p><p>Until we solve that more glaring issue, any Brainstorming rules to suspend judgement are superficial are short-lived. The real goal afterall is not just creative ideas at the end of a Brainstorm, but more imaginative products and services that reach consumers and customers. It&#39;s idea development, not idea generation, that counts. &#0160;&#0160;</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133ee4eb848970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-05-24T04:24:59Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340133ee4eb846970bshiny new thinghttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-05-24T04:24:59Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ee4eb4aa970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100524.shiny" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ee4eb4aa970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ee4eb4aa970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://www.photoshelter.com/c/tomfishburne/gallery-img-show/Most-Recent-Cartoons/G0000M5VkuiSH_T0/?P_ID=P00005M0JL1esOOc&amp;_bqG=0&amp;_bqH=eJyzyHBNDHDyLTXyKncLN6yMDK30T0zzMgzPLbKwMrSwMjK1snKP93SxdTcAAl_TsOzSzGCP.BADtQCQaABI1NTXwMvHMLXY3z9Zzd0z3t3Rx8c1KBKbJgDr1B..&amp;I_ID=I0000Xfk6qmaJ8UA">click here</a>) </span><p>ADHD isn’t just for teenagers. It afflicts businesses and teams too.&#0160;I once heard a venture capitalist offer to prescribe Ritalin to one of his portfolio companies.&#0160;</p> <p>It’s easy to get distracted by the Shiny New Thing. It’s particularly easy to get distracted when the going gets tough on your core plan and energy starts to wane. Whether it’s a new technology, a new product, or a new customer, falling in love with the Shiny New Thing can take a team off course. It’s easy to get enthusiastic about the promise of something new than the hard slog of what you’re already doing.&#0160;</p> <p>Ted Simon calls this <a href="http://tedlsimon.posterous.com/social-media-beware-of-shiny-new-objects">Shiny New Object Syndrome</a>&#0160;(particularly common with social media): &#0160;“In this headlong rush of confusing a tactic with a strategy, organizations waste time, energy, resources chasing a “shiny new object.”&#0160;By skipping these questions the organization can find itself distracted from its main goal and/or mission.”&#0160;</p> <p>That’s not to say that teams should be inflexible and wear blinders to opportunities that come up mid-stream. Being adaptable to new opportunities is important. But don’t lose sight of the main goal.&#0160;</p> <p>Dharmesh Shah writes a great <a href="http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/6739/Entrepreneurs-and-Hey-There-s-A-Shiny-New-Thing.aspx">advice post</a> for entrepreneurs in particular:&#0160;</p> <p><em>To really succeed and get things done, you’re going to need to stick to something and get the basic machinery “working” and plug away at it. Good ideas take time. Great ideas take even more time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting you be stubborn about your idea, business model, product, whatever. Far from it. I’m a big fan of the agile approach to startups. But, there’s a difference between iterating on an existing thing and being distracted by a Shiny New Thing.&#0160; </em></p> <p><em>So, here’s my advice to you the next time you see the Shiny New Thing bug buzzing around your head as you’re trying to get real work done. Ask yourself the following 4 questions:&#0160;</em></p> <p><em>1. Am I simply intrigued by the shininess and newness, or is there really a there, there?&#0160; </em></p> <p><em>2. What would I need to know and what minimal questions would I need answered to figure out whether this Shiny New Thing is worth my attention?&#0160;</em></p> <p><em>3. How long will it reasonably take me to figure out what I need to know? Can I even afford that investment? How does it impact what I’m doing now?&#0160;</em></p> <p><em>&#0160;4. Should I go ahead and….Hey wait! As I was writing this, I just came across another topic for this blog as a result of something on Guy Kawasaki’s blog. Must…try…to…resist…shiny…new…thing. Oh no…it’s too…shinyyyyyyyy....[click]</em></p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ee4eb4aa970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100524.shiny" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ee4eb4aa970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ee4eb4aa970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://www.photoshelter.com/c/tomfishburne/gallery-img-show/Most-Recent-Cartoons/G0000M5VkuiSH_T0/?P_ID=P00005M0JL1esOOc&amp;_bqG=0&amp;_bqH=eJyzyHBNDHDyLTXyKncLN6yMDK30T0zzMgzPLbKwMrSwMjK1snKP93SxdTcAAl_TsOzSzGCP.BADtQCQaABI1NTXwMvHMLXY3z9Zzd0z3t3Rx8c1KBKbJgDr1B..&amp;I_ID=I0000Xfk6qmaJ8UA">click here</a>) </span><p>ADHD isn’t just for teenagers. It afflicts businesses and teams too.&#0160;I once heard a venture capitalist offer to prescribe Ritalin to one of his portfolio companies.&#0160;</p> <p>It’s easy to get distracted by the Shiny New Thing. It’s particularly easy to get distracted when the going gets tough on your core plan and energy starts to wane. Whether it’s a new technology, a new product, or a new customer, falling in love with the Shiny New Thing can take a team off course. It’s easy to get enthusiastic about the promise of something new than the hard slog of what you’re already doing.&#0160;</p> <p>Ted Simon calls this <a href="http://tedlsimon.posterous.com/social-media-beware-of-shiny-new-objects">Shiny New Object Syndrome</a>&#0160;(particularly common with social media): &#0160;“In this headlong rush of confusing a tactic with a strategy, organizations waste time, energy, resources chasing a “shiny new object.”&#0160;By skipping these questions the organization can find itself distracted from its main goal and/or mission.”&#0160;</p> <p>That’s not to say that teams should be inflexible and wear blinders to opportunities that come up mid-stream. Being adaptable to new opportunities is important. But don’t lose sight of the main goal.&#0160;</p> <p>Dharmesh Shah writes a great <a href="http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/6739/Entrepreneurs-and-Hey-There-s-A-Shiny-New-Thing.aspx">advice post</a> for entrepreneurs in particular:&#0160;</p> <p><em>To really succeed and get things done, you’re going to need to stick to something and get the basic machinery “working” and plug away at it. Good ideas take time. Great ideas take even more time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting you be stubborn about your idea, business model, product, whatever. Far from it. I’m a big fan of the agile approach to startups. But, there’s a difference between iterating on an existing thing and being distracted by a Shiny New Thing.&#0160; </em></p> <p><em>So, here’s my advice to you the next time you see the Shiny New Thing bug buzzing around your head as you’re trying to get real work done. Ask yourself the following 4 questions:&#0160;</em></p> <p><em>1. Am I simply intrigued by the shininess and newness, or is there really a there, there?&#0160; </em></p> <p><em>2. What would I need to know and what minimal questions would I need answered to figure out whether this Shiny New Thing is worth my attention?&#0160;</em></p> <p><em>3. How long will it reasonably take me to figure out what I need to know? Can I even afford that investment? How does it impact what I’m doing now?&#0160;</em></p> <p><em>&#0160;4. Should I go ahead and….Hey wait! As I was writing this, I just came across another topic for this blog as a result of something on Guy Kawasaki’s blog. Must…try…to…resist…shiny…new…thing. Oh no…it’s too…shinyyyyyyyy....[click]</em></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133edb9b9f4970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-05-17T05:12:24Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340133edb9b526970bquality (out of) controlhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-05-17T05:12:24Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133edb9b703970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100517.quality" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133edb9b703970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133edb9b703970b-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a>&#0160;</p><p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://www.photoshelter.com/c/tomfishburne/gallery-img-show/Most-Recent-Cartoons/G0000M5VkuiSH_T0/?P_ID=P00005M0JL1esOOc&amp;_bqG=1&amp;_bqH=eJwrKM91MggJMnYzCKssSC4o9vOtcivLS7eMCPG0MrSwMjK1snKP93SxdTcAAl_TsOzSzGCP.BADtQCQaABI1NTXwMvHMLXY3z9Zzd0z3t3Rx8c1KBKbJgAZHSAy&amp;I_ID=I0000yNi52h0DELA">click here</a>)</span></p><p>I’m enjoying <a href="http://37signals.com/rework/">Rework</a>, the entrepreneurial handbook by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hanson, founders of 37signals.&#0160; I was inspired to read it after meeting Mark Rohde, who drew all of the illustrations. </p><p>One of the brilliant riffs in the book is titled, “Nobody likes plastic flowers”. Jason and David lobby for the beauty of imperfection and advocate the Japanese principle of <em>wabi-sabi</em>. They illustrate <em>wabi-sabi</em> with a wonderful quote by Leonard Koren: </p><p> “Pare down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry. Keep things clean and unencumbered, but don’t sterilize.” </p><p>This flexible philosophy often conflicts with Quality Control, which prizes consistency over “poetry”. The Six Sigma Quality Control movement in particular clamps down on variability. </p><p>Strict discipline may be crucial in many forms of product development (otherwise you wind up with the Toyota brake recall). Yet strict quality control standards also sand out the more interesting attributes of product experience. Product development becomes a constant tug-o-war to standardize, not sterilize. How do you write a Quality specification for “poetry”? </p><p>When I worked on Häagen-Dazs, we had a lot of internal debates on Quality. We had two US factories, one in California and one in Maryland. The milk came from local farms. East coast milk inherently tastes slightly different from West coast milk because the diet for the cows is different. Yet, our goal was to ensure that West coast ice cream tasted the same as East coast ice cream. Why exactly? Why does Quality Control have to mean absolute consistency? Consumers expect wine brands to taste different from year to year because of crop variability. Why not other products? </p><p>Our Mango ice cream created tension because the mango pieces were not consistently sized. Each pint had large pieces and small pieces, as if they were hand-cut, not machine-cut. Consumers liked the variability. Yet, Quality Control wanted to pick one consistent size. It was easier to design a specification that way. </p><p>Why can’t mass-produced products accept some variability? <a href="http://www.jonessoda.com/files_4/yrlab.php">Jones Soda</a> features different labels each time you drink them. It is those differences that create drama and interest. Quality is important. But that doesn’t mean that brands should become plastic flowers. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133edb9b703970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100517.quality" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133edb9b703970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133edb9b703970b-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a>&#0160;</p><p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://www.photoshelter.com/c/tomfishburne/gallery-img-show/Most-Recent-Cartoons/G0000M5VkuiSH_T0/?P_ID=P00005M0JL1esOOc&amp;_bqG=1&amp;_bqH=eJwrKM91MggJMnYzCKssSC4o9vOtcivLS7eMCPG0MrSwMjK1snKP93SxdTcAAl_TsOzSzGCP.BADtQCQaABI1NTXwMvHMLXY3z9Zzd0z3t3Rx8c1KBKbJgAZHSAy&amp;I_ID=I0000yNi52h0DELA">click here</a>)</span></p><p>I’m enjoying <a href="http://37signals.com/rework/">Rework</a>, the entrepreneurial handbook by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hanson, founders of 37signals.&#0160; I was inspired to read it after meeting Mark Rohde, who drew all of the illustrations. </p><p>One of the brilliant riffs in the book is titled, “Nobody likes plastic flowers”. Jason and David lobby for the beauty of imperfection and advocate the Japanese principle of <em>wabi-sabi</em>. They illustrate <em>wabi-sabi</em> with a wonderful quote by Leonard Koren: </p><p> “Pare down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry. Keep things clean and unencumbered, but don’t sterilize.” </p><p>This flexible philosophy often conflicts with Quality Control, which prizes consistency over “poetry”. The Six Sigma Quality Control movement in particular clamps down on variability. </p><p>Strict discipline may be crucial in many forms of product development (otherwise you wind up with the Toyota brake recall). Yet strict quality control standards also sand out the more interesting attributes of product experience. Product development becomes a constant tug-o-war to standardize, not sterilize. How do you write a Quality specification for “poetry”? </p><p>When I worked on Häagen-Dazs, we had a lot of internal debates on Quality. We had two US factories, one in California and one in Maryland. The milk came from local farms. East coast milk inherently tastes slightly different from West coast milk because the diet for the cows is different. Yet, our goal was to ensure that West coast ice cream tasted the same as East coast ice cream. Why exactly? Why does Quality Control have to mean absolute consistency? Consumers expect wine brands to taste different from year to year because of crop variability. Why not other products? </p><p>Our Mango ice cream created tension because the mango pieces were not consistently sized. Each pint had large pieces and small pieces, as if they were hand-cut, not machine-cut. Consumers liked the variability. Yet, Quality Control wanted to pick one consistent size. It was easier to design a specification that way. </p><p>Why can’t mass-produced products accept some variability? <a href="http://www.jonessoda.com/files_4/yrlab.php">Jones Soda</a> features different labels each time you drink them. It is those differences that create drama and interest. Quality is important. But that doesn’t mean that brands should become plastic flowers. </p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834013480a07a7a970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-05-09T19:55:52Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340133ed6cf34a970bthe emperor's new tweetshttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-05-09T19:55:51Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ed6cf17b970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100510.emperor" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ed6cf17b970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ed6cf17b970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a>&#0160;</p><p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://www.photoshelter.com/c/tomfishburne/gallery-img-show/Most-Recent-Cartoons/G0000M5VkuiSH_T0/?_bqG=2&amp;_bqH=eJwrKM91MggJMnYzCKssSC4o9vOtcivLS7eMCPG0MrSwMjK1snKP93SxdTcAAl_TsOzSzGCP.BADtQCQaABI1NTXwMvHMLXY3z9Zzd0z3t3Rx8c1KBKbJgAZHSAy">click here</a>)</span></p><p>In London last week, I happened across Mark Ritson’s <a href="http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/opinion/hoodwinked-by-the-emperors-new-tweets/3013074.article">column</a>&#0160;in Marketing Week: “Hoodwinked by the Emperor’s New Tweets”. The title alone sparked this cartoon idea.&#0160;</p><p>Mark lampoons the social media bandwagon, particularly the herd mentality to incorporate social media into each and every marketing plan and the gullibility of marketing directors to believe all the hype. He writes, “Most brands don’t have the newsworthiness, broad appeal or dynamism to have any chance of making Twitter work for them.”&#0160;</p><p>&#0160;I think that statement is true. And I agree that attempting social media without “newsworthiness” or “dynamism” is simply expensive window dressing. But, I don’t think that this is result of a limitation of Twitter or any other social media platform. I think this is the result of a limitation of the brand.&#0160;</p><p>Brands have the obligation to be “newsworthy” and “dynamic”. Start there, not with social media. I’m a big fan of a quote from Kathy Sierra: “Please, businesses, don’t DO ‘social media’. Do ‘user happiness’, which may, or may not, require use of social media tools.” Social media will not make a dull brand more meaningful.&#0160;</p><p>Eric Ryan who founded <a href="http://www.methodhome.com">method</a>&#0160;in the mundane category of household cleaning likes to say, “There are no commodity categories. Only commodity brands.” It’s the impetus of each and every brand to rise above commodity status. Or it risks becoming irrelevant next to cheaper private label.&#0160;</p><p>Only once a brand is truly meaningful to consumers does it earn the opportunity to have relationships with them. And I believe those relationships often can be made stronger through the use of social media tools. &#0160;</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ed6cf17b970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100510.emperor" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ed6cf17b970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ed6cf17b970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a>&#0160;</p><p><span style="font-size: 11px; ">(to license this cartoon, <a href="http://www.photoshelter.com/c/tomfishburne/gallery-img-show/Most-Recent-Cartoons/G0000M5VkuiSH_T0/?_bqG=2&amp;_bqH=eJwrKM91MggJMnYzCKssSC4o9vOtcivLS7eMCPG0MrSwMjK1snKP93SxdTcAAl_TsOzSzGCP.BADtQCQaABI1NTXwMvHMLXY3z9Zzd0z3t3Rx8c1KBKbJgAZHSAy">click here</a>)</span></p><p>In London last week, I happened across Mark Ritson’s <a href="http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/opinion/hoodwinked-by-the-emperors-new-tweets/3013074.article">column</a>&#0160;in Marketing Week: “Hoodwinked by the Emperor’s New Tweets”. The title alone sparked this cartoon idea.&#0160;</p><p>Mark lampoons the social media bandwagon, particularly the herd mentality to incorporate social media into each and every marketing plan and the gullibility of marketing directors to believe all the hype. He writes, “Most brands don’t have the newsworthiness, broad appeal or dynamism to have any chance of making Twitter work for them.”&#0160;</p><p>&#0160;I think that statement is true. And I agree that attempting social media without “newsworthiness” or “dynamism” is simply expensive window dressing. But, I don’t think that this is result of a limitation of Twitter or any other social media platform. I think this is the result of a limitation of the brand.&#0160;</p><p>Brands have the obligation to be “newsworthy” and “dynamic”. Start there, not with social media. I’m a big fan of a quote from Kathy Sierra: “Please, businesses, don’t DO ‘social media’. Do ‘user happiness’, which may, or may not, require use of social media tools.” Social media will not make a dull brand more meaningful.&#0160;</p><p>Eric Ryan who founded <a href="http://www.methodhome.com">method</a>&#0160;in the mundane category of household cleaning likes to say, “There are no commodity categories. Only commodity brands.” It’s the impetus of each and every brand to rise above commodity status. Or it risks becoming irrelevant next to cheaper private label.&#0160;</p><p>Only once a brand is truly meaningful to consumers does it earn the opportunity to have relationships with them. And I believe those relationships often can be made stronger through the use of social media tools. &#0160;</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133ed2429e0970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-05-03T04:48:08Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401348053be9b970cpoking the bearhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-05-03T04:48:08Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348053bdc6970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100503.bear" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401348053bdc6970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348053bdc6970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a> </p> <p>“Poking the Bear” belongs on a marketing lingo bingo card alongside “Low Hanging Fruit” and “Share of Voice”. It’s one of my favorite marketing buzz phrases because it’s so vivid. “Poking the Bear” means going up against a competitive giant knowing the potential response will be massive.&#0160;</p> <p>Schwans innovation guy Marc Coudeyre, who I knew at General Mills years ago, suggested “Poking the Bear” could make a good cartoon. He said that companies often cautiously “Yell at the Bear” through soft launches, etc. before they actually work up the courage to poke it.&#0160;</p> <p>The most common action that I’ve seen is that organizations are afraid to confront the bear at all, particularly if the bear is a powerful market leader. The phrase “Poking the Bear” is often used as a watchword on what to avoid. If you’re the little guy, the Bear can be pretty intimidating when it throws its weight around.&#0160;</p> <p>Many of these companies take the “roll over and play dead” approach, the equivalent of staying under the radar. But this strategy is actually more dangerous. The big competitors hunt indiscriminately and playing it safe actually makes you an easier target.&#0160;</p> <p>As the challenger brand, the only way to win is to catch the incumbent off-guard, using your natural advantages of speed and creativity to keep the Bear on its toes.&#0160;</p> <p>And the best way to poke the bear is by aiming at the funny bone. Recently Clorox swatted tiny rival method with a cease-and-desist letter for using a daisy image method had been using since 2003 and Clorox started using in 2008. The threat of litigation can be frightening for small companies, and many opt to “roll over and play dead”. Method decided instead to <a href="http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/04/28/Clorox-Fights-Method-Over-Daisy.aspx">poke the bear back</a>.&#0160;</p> <p>They used humor to turn the cease-and-desist letter into a very public campaign called <a href="http://www.votedaisy.com/">Vote Daisy</a>.&#0160;</p> <p><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Frp0qnt7U_0&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="340" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Frp0qnt7U_0&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" /></object></p> <p>As howies founder David Hieatt said after getting <a href="http://www.howies.co.uk/content.php?xId=127&amp;xPg=1">sued by Levis</a>, “you can’t slay a giant but you can help him get his sense of humor back.” </p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348053bdc6970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100503.bear" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401348053bdc6970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401348053bdc6970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a> </p> <p>“Poking the Bear” belongs on a marketing lingo bingo card alongside “Low Hanging Fruit” and “Share of Voice”. It’s one of my favorite marketing buzz phrases because it’s so vivid. “Poking the Bear” means going up against a competitive giant knowing the potential response will be massive.&#0160;</p> <p>Schwans innovation guy Marc Coudeyre, who I knew at General Mills years ago, suggested “Poking the Bear” could make a good cartoon. He said that companies often cautiously “Yell at the Bear” through soft launches, etc. before they actually work up the courage to poke it.&#0160;</p> <p>The most common action that I’ve seen is that organizations are afraid to confront the bear at all, particularly if the bear is a powerful market leader. The phrase “Poking the Bear” is often used as a watchword on what to avoid. If you’re the little guy, the Bear can be pretty intimidating when it throws its weight around.&#0160;</p> <p>Many of these companies take the “roll over and play dead” approach, the equivalent of staying under the radar. But this strategy is actually more dangerous. The big competitors hunt indiscriminately and playing it safe actually makes you an easier target.&#0160;</p> <p>As the challenger brand, the only way to win is to catch the incumbent off-guard, using your natural advantages of speed and creativity to keep the Bear on its toes.&#0160;</p> <p>And the best way to poke the bear is by aiming at the funny bone. Recently Clorox swatted tiny rival method with a cease-and-desist letter for using a daisy image method had been using since 2003 and Clorox started using in 2008. The threat of litigation can be frightening for small companies, and many opt to “roll over and play dead”. Method decided instead to <a href="http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/04/28/Clorox-Fights-Method-Over-Daisy.aspx">poke the bear back</a>.&#0160;</p> <p>They used humor to turn the cease-and-desist letter into a very public campaign called <a href="http://www.votedaisy.com/">Vote Daisy</a>.&#0160;</p> <p><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Frp0qnt7U_0&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="340" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Frp0qnt7U_0&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" /></object></p> <p>As howies founder David Hieatt said after getting <a href="http://www.howies.co.uk/content.php?xId=127&amp;xPg=1">sued by Levis</a>, “you can’t slay a giant but you can help him get his sense of humor back.” </p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c45151883401347ff83207970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-04-19T05:58:15Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401347ff80e63970cwhere the creatives arehttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-04-19T05:58:15Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ecc7dfc4970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100419.creatives" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ecc7dfc4970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ecc7dfc4970b-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a></p><p>It cracks me up whenever I hear a creative director referred to as &quot;the Creative&quot;.&#0160; It makes it sound like creative directors belong to a different species.&#0160; We wouldn&#39;t refer to &quot;the Supply&quot; or &quot;the Accounting&quot;.&#0160; But &quot;the Creative&quot; is often referred to in this strange third person (as parodied in this <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/tomfishburne/2008/06/creative-juice.html">clever video</a> from an agency: &quot;Creatives grow better in the Southwest.&quot;)</p><p>I think there is a skewed sense of creativity in most business environments.&#0160; When creativity is needed, we go off-site for an isolated brainstorm.&#0160; Or, we pull in special people at outside agencies.&#0160; It is treated as something Other.&#0160; There is not enough emphasis on everyday business creativity.&#0160;&#0160; </p><p>When creativity is outsourced, we lose detail in translation and creative decisions become detached from business decisions.&#0160; The client/creative director dynamic is often strained and awkward.&#0160; Many creative briefs are bland and uninspiring.&#0160; And many creative directors don&#39;t really understand the dynamics facing the client&#39;s business.</p><p>The resulting work is often a peace treaty - an unhappy compromise between a creative director trying to breathe life into an uninspiring creative brief and a client trying to reign in the creative director&#39;s wild ideas.</p><p>I&#39;m a big fan of in-sourcing as much creativity as possible. When creative directors have a consistent seat at the business table, they add creative insight throughout the business, not just when a creative piece of work is required.&#0160; Plus, any creative output becomes tightly linked to the business issues.</p><p>I spent an afternoon once at Fruit Towers in London comparing the <a href="http://www.methodhome.com">method</a> model with the <a href="http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk">innocent</a> model.&#0160; We called it &quot;ordering in&quot;.</p><p>The best benefit of &quot;ordering in&quot; is that creativity is contagious.&#0160; It reinforces that creativity is part of the everyday.&#0160; Not something you find elsewhere by traveling &quot;in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the creatives are&quot;.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ecc7dfc4970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100419.creatives" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ecc7dfc4970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ecc7dfc4970b-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a></p><p>It cracks me up whenever I hear a creative director referred to as &quot;the Creative&quot;.&#0160; It makes it sound like creative directors belong to a different species.&#0160; We wouldn&#39;t refer to &quot;the Supply&quot; or &quot;the Accounting&quot;.&#0160; But &quot;the Creative&quot; is often referred to in this strange third person (as parodied in this <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/tomfishburne/2008/06/creative-juice.html">clever video</a> from an agency: &quot;Creatives grow better in the Southwest.&quot;)</p><p>I think there is a skewed sense of creativity in most business environments.&#0160; When creativity is needed, we go off-site for an isolated brainstorm.&#0160; Or, we pull in special people at outside agencies.&#0160; It is treated as something Other.&#0160; There is not enough emphasis on everyday business creativity.&#0160;&#0160; </p><p>When creativity is outsourced, we lose detail in translation and creative decisions become detached from business decisions.&#0160; The client/creative director dynamic is often strained and awkward.&#0160; Many creative briefs are bland and uninspiring.&#0160; And many creative directors don&#39;t really understand the dynamics facing the client&#39;s business.</p><p>The resulting work is often a peace treaty - an unhappy compromise between a creative director trying to breathe life into an uninspiring creative brief and a client trying to reign in the creative director&#39;s wild ideas.</p><p>I&#39;m a big fan of in-sourcing as much creativity as possible. When creative directors have a consistent seat at the business table, they add creative insight throughout the business, not just when a creative piece of work is required.&#0160; Plus, any creative output becomes tightly linked to the business issues.</p><p>I spent an afternoon once at Fruit Towers in London comparing the <a href="http://www.methodhome.com">method</a> model with the <a href="http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk">innocent</a> model.&#0160; We called it &quot;ordering in&quot;.</p><p>The best benefit of &quot;ordering in&quot; is that creativity is contagious.&#0160; It reinforces that creativity is part of the everyday.&#0160; Not something you find elsewhere by traveling &quot;in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the creatives are&quot;.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c45151883401347fcfbe27970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-04-12T04:47:55Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401347fce34b7970cthe new product waterfallhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-04-12T04:47:55Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401347fcfb82f970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100412.waterfall" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401347fcfb82f970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401347fcfb82f970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a> <br /> </p><p>Most products are developed like a waterfall. Waterfall development is the classic sequential linear process where you finish one stage before moving on to the next one. You aim never to revisit a stage once you’ve finished it, so you’d better get that brief right the first time. </p><p>When I worked in web development in the late 90’s, we adopted the waterfall process by default. We even hired a 30-year career military project manager who was an expert in waterfall development with construction projects like bridges. We could have wallpapered our offices with his Gantt charts. </p><p>We discovered that this command-and-control process was a horrible fit for web development. We couldn&#39;t predict all of the potential issues when we first wrote a brief. So, requirements would inevitably change and we’d uncover issues too late to do anything about them. We would then either stubbornly hold to our original plan or scrap a lot of hard work to start parts of the process over. </p><p>Waterfall development also stifled great ideas that came mid-stream. It clamped down on “feature creep” to the expense of creating more remarkable innovation.</p><p>I recently discovered the <a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html">Agile Manifesto</a>, written in 2001 by a group of software engineers to invent a new process better matched to software development. It has a lot of <a href="http://agile101.net/2009/09/08/the-difference-between-waterfall-iterative-waterfall-scrum-and-lean-in-pictures/">variations</a> (iterative, scrum, lean), but at the core, it’s a more innovative approach designed around short sprints and iterative prototyping, not a long linear slog. </p><p>I found their principles inspiring not only for software development, but any form of product development, even consumer products. The most recent method product launch included at least 44 rapid prototypes that all evolved the product beyond what we could have ever imagined in the original brief.&#0160;</p><p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401347fce3416970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Prototypes" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401347fce3416970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401347fce3416970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a> <br /><photo>I think that any form of product development can benefit from the tenets of the <a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html">Agile Manifesto</a>: <br /></photo></p><p><em><photo>Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer&#39;s competitive advantage. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo>Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo> Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo> Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo>The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo> Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo>Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo>The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo>At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.&#0160;</photo></em></p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401347fcfb82f970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100412.waterfall" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401347fcfb82f970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401347fcfb82f970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a> <br /> </p><p>Most products are developed like a waterfall. Waterfall development is the classic sequential linear process where you finish one stage before moving on to the next one. You aim never to revisit a stage once you’ve finished it, so you’d better get that brief right the first time. </p><p>When I worked in web development in the late 90’s, we adopted the waterfall process by default. We even hired a 30-year career military project manager who was an expert in waterfall development with construction projects like bridges. We could have wallpapered our offices with his Gantt charts. </p><p>We discovered that this command-and-control process was a horrible fit for web development. We couldn&#39;t predict all of the potential issues when we first wrote a brief. So, requirements would inevitably change and we’d uncover issues too late to do anything about them. We would then either stubbornly hold to our original plan or scrap a lot of hard work to start parts of the process over. </p><p>Waterfall development also stifled great ideas that came mid-stream. It clamped down on “feature creep” to the expense of creating more remarkable innovation.</p><p>I recently discovered the <a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html">Agile Manifesto</a>, written in 2001 by a group of software engineers to invent a new process better matched to software development. It has a lot of <a href="http://agile101.net/2009/09/08/the-difference-between-waterfall-iterative-waterfall-scrum-and-lean-in-pictures/">variations</a> (iterative, scrum, lean), but at the core, it’s a more innovative approach designed around short sprints and iterative prototyping, not a long linear slog. </p><p>I found their principles inspiring not only for software development, but any form of product development, even consumer products. The most recent method product launch included at least 44 rapid prototypes that all evolved the product beyond what we could have ever imagined in the original brief.&#0160;</p><p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401347fce3416970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Prototypes" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401347fce3416970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401347fce3416970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a> <br /><photo>I think that any form of product development can benefit from the tenets of the <a href="http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html">Agile Manifesto</a>: <br /></photo></p><p><em><photo>Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer&#39;s competitive advantage. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo>Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo> Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo> Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo>The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo> Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo>Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo>The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams. <br /></photo></em></p><p><em><photo>At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.&#0160;</photo></em></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133ec75db65970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-04-05T01:29:22Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401347fa5b028970cmission: impersonalhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-04-05T01:29:22Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75db3a970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100405.mission" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ec75db3a970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75db3a970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />Last year, I heard Swedish axe maker Gabriel Branby speak at the <a href="http://www.dolectures.com/speakers/speakers-2009/gabriel-branby">DO Lectures</a>. Gabriel’s company, Gränsfors, makes the finest forged axes in the world. He spoke about the essence of product development as craft. <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d1a4970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Sm_axe" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d1a4970b selected " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d1a4970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Sm_axe" /></a>His company takes axe-making very personally. To underscore that commitment, each of his axes is forged by a smith who stamps his or her personal initials in the axe head next to the company logo.&#0160;</p> <p> Contrast that sense of personal ownership with the professional detachment that is part of many forms of product development. Rarely is product development seen as craft. Most products launched are not meaningfully different than what is already on the market.&#0160; </p> <p>When Steve Jobs launched the original Mac, he had the entire team sign their work, literally. If you open the case of a Mac 128k, 512k, or Plus, you’ll find the signatures of the entire team that worked on it.&#0160;</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d043970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Sm_apple" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d043970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d043970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />Imagine the sense of personal ownership you’d feel in signing that Mac before the first one even rolled off the production line. Those developers put their names on the line, in advance, whether the product succeeded or failed. You can imagine the attention paid of every small detail. No wonder that Apple is known for crafting “insanely great” products.&#0160;</p> <p>I like the idea of collectively signing your work. I think it’s a powerful statement of commitment that runs deeper than any mission statement. It forces a higher standard. It signals that each and every person on a development team has the responsibility to make that product more remarkable with their individual touch. A product is a composite of thousands of decisions and actions. If everyone takes these decisions and actions personally, products become stronger, not weaker, as they move from concept to launch.&#0160; </p> <p>No one wants to put their name on something mediocre.&#0160; </p> <p>I also think that signing your work encourages the creation of products with lasting value. Not only are most products designed to be disposable, very few innovations are still on the shelves five years after they launch. Gränsfors axes come with 20 year guarantees. Rarely do we think further out than the next financial year.&#0160;</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d365970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="float: right;"><img alt="Sm_howies" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d365970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d365970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Sm_howies" /></a>Welsh clothing brand howies created a special <a href="http://hmd.howies.co.uk/story.html#idea">Hand-Me-Down</a> line that is specifically designed to last long enough to pass on to others. Their messenger bag comes with a tag to track the names of different owners that will inherit the bag. Taking the long view transforms how we see the products that we develop and the products that we consume.</p> <p> David Hieatt (who founded both howies and the DO Lectures) expanded this concept further recently with an interesting idea called <a href="http://davidhieatt.typepad.com/doonethingwell/2010/04/the-history-tag-open-source-idea.html">The History Tag</a>. Similar to a bar code, The History Tag would track the development and story of individual products. It stamps each product with the history of who made it and who consumed it. It thereby encourages those who make products and those who consume products to take those objects personally.&#0160;</p> <p>As he writes, <em>“The reason I like The History Tag idea is because people like to know the history of things. I like the fact that there&#39;s a reward for making something last. It becomes a badge of honour for the people who own it and the people who made it. And it’s nice that its usefulness takes time for it to reveal itself. Which runs against the current need for instant gratification, which may not be such a bad thing.”</em></p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75db3a970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100405.mission" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ec75db3a970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75db3a970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />Last year, I heard Swedish axe maker Gabriel Branby speak at the <a href="http://www.dolectures.com/speakers/speakers-2009/gabriel-branby">DO Lectures</a>. Gabriel’s company, Gränsfors, makes the finest forged axes in the world. He spoke about the essence of product development as craft. <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d1a4970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Sm_axe" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d1a4970b selected " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d1a4970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Sm_axe" /></a>His company takes axe-making very personally. To underscore that commitment, each of his axes is forged by a smith who stamps his or her personal initials in the axe head next to the company logo.&#0160;</p> <p> Contrast that sense of personal ownership with the professional detachment that is part of many forms of product development. Rarely is product development seen as craft. Most products launched are not meaningfully different than what is already on the market.&#0160; </p> <p>When Steve Jobs launched the original Mac, he had the entire team sign their work, literally. If you open the case of a Mac 128k, 512k, or Plus, you’ll find the signatures of the entire team that worked on it.&#0160;</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d043970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Sm_apple" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d043970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d043970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />Imagine the sense of personal ownership you’d feel in signing that Mac before the first one even rolled off the production line. Those developers put their names on the line, in advance, whether the product succeeded or failed. You can imagine the attention paid of every small detail. No wonder that Apple is known for crafting “insanely great” products.&#0160;</p> <p>I like the idea of collectively signing your work. I think it’s a powerful statement of commitment that runs deeper than any mission statement. It forces a higher standard. It signals that each and every person on a development team has the responsibility to make that product more remarkable with their individual touch. A product is a composite of thousands of decisions and actions. If everyone takes these decisions and actions personally, products become stronger, not weaker, as they move from concept to launch.&#0160; </p> <p>No one wants to put their name on something mediocre.&#0160; </p> <p>I also think that signing your work encourages the creation of products with lasting value. Not only are most products designed to be disposable, very few innovations are still on the shelves five years after they launch. Gränsfors axes come with 20 year guarantees. Rarely do we think further out than the next financial year.&#0160;</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d365970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="float: right;"><img alt="Sm_howies" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d365970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec75d365970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Sm_howies" /></a>Welsh clothing brand howies created a special <a href="http://hmd.howies.co.uk/story.html#idea">Hand-Me-Down</a> line that is specifically designed to last long enough to pass on to others. Their messenger bag comes with a tag to track the names of different owners that will inherit the bag. Taking the long view transforms how we see the products that we develop and the products that we consume.</p> <p> David Hieatt (who founded both howies and the DO Lectures) expanded this concept further recently with an interesting idea called <a href="http://davidhieatt.typepad.com/doonethingwell/2010/04/the-history-tag-open-source-idea.html">The History Tag</a>. Similar to a bar code, The History Tag would track the development and story of individual products. It stamps each product with the history of who made it and who consumed it. It thereby encourages those who make products and those who consume products to take those objects personally.&#0160;</p> <p>As he writes, <em>“The reason I like The History Tag idea is because people like to know the history of things. I like the fact that there&#39;s a reward for making something last. It becomes a badge of honour for the people who own it and the people who made it. And it’s nice that its usefulness takes time for it to reveal itself. Which runs against the current need for instant gratification, which may not be such a bad thing.”</em></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340133ec4ae856970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-03-29T04:49:17Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340133ec4ad95d970bthis little piggyhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-03-29T04:49:17Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec4ad4f5970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100329.littlepiggy" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ec4ad4f5970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec4ad4f5970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p>As Jerry Garcia once said, &quot;You do not merely want to be considered the best of the best. You want to be the only ones who do what you do.&quot; That quote was part of Rule #24 in <a href="http://rulesofthumbbook.blogspot.com/">Alan Webber</a>&#39;s inspiring <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rules-Thumb-Winning-Business-Without/dp/0061721832">Rules of Thumb</a> book, and partly inspired this cartoon (except I played with toes, not thumbs).&#0160; </p><p>The vast majority of innovations launched each year are &quot;me too&#39;s&quot;. It&#39;s very tempting to drive by the rear view mirror, with your eyes on the competition rather than on the consumer. I <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/tomfishburne/2009/11/driving-by-the-rear-view-mirror.html">blogged</a>&#0160;a few months ago that companies can be classified either as Rule Makers, Rule Followers, or Rule Breakers. Most companies duke it out amongst themselves as Followers, trying to gain share against the market leader by playing the rules of the market leader.&#0160; </p><p>When I worked at Nestle ice cream, we acted as Rule Maker in launching a new &quot;Slow Churned&quot; technology that dramatically improved the taste of low fat ice cream. Unilever followed quickly with &quot;Double Churned&quot;, based on the same technology. Because Unilever didn&#39;t have the same R&amp;D investment, the Unilever launch was more efficient, even though they weren&#39;t first. Both strategies have their pros and cons.&#0160;</p><p>However, the worst position is to be a timid number three or four. Yet many companies jump on the bandwagon of a new idea only when the presense of competition has endorsed the idea. The thinking is that is must be a good idea because everyone else is doing it.&#0160; </p><p>A few companies like Unilever excel at fast following (they call it &quot;stealing with pride&quot;), but most companies that consider themselves fast followers are actually slow and timid followers.&#0160;</p><p>The real opportunity is to be the Rule Breaker and change the game entirely. Skinny Cow took the challenger brand approach, launching tasty lowfat ice cream sandwiches that attracted a cult following. Skinny Cow fanatics identified themselves, not with the lowfat ice cream category, but with Skinny Cow. Skinny Cow generated so much value that Nestle ultimately paid a premium to acquire them. Rule makers recognize the value that rule breakers create. The slow followers rarely create value at all.&#0160; </p><p>Instead of obsessing about market share, think market creation. Become &quot;the only ones who do what you do&quot;.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec4ad4f5970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100329.littlepiggy" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340133ec4ad4f5970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340133ec4ad4f5970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p>As Jerry Garcia once said, &quot;You do not merely want to be considered the best of the best. You want to be the only ones who do what you do.&quot; That quote was part of Rule #24 in <a href="http://rulesofthumbbook.blogspot.com/">Alan Webber</a>&#39;s inspiring <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rules-Thumb-Winning-Business-Without/dp/0061721832">Rules of Thumb</a> book, and partly inspired this cartoon (except I played with toes, not thumbs).&#0160; </p><p>The vast majority of innovations launched each year are &quot;me too&#39;s&quot;. It&#39;s very tempting to drive by the rear view mirror, with your eyes on the competition rather than on the consumer. I <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/tomfishburne/2009/11/driving-by-the-rear-view-mirror.html">blogged</a>&#0160;a few months ago that companies can be classified either as Rule Makers, Rule Followers, or Rule Breakers. Most companies duke it out amongst themselves as Followers, trying to gain share against the market leader by playing the rules of the market leader.&#0160; </p><p>When I worked at Nestle ice cream, we acted as Rule Maker in launching a new &quot;Slow Churned&quot; technology that dramatically improved the taste of low fat ice cream. Unilever followed quickly with &quot;Double Churned&quot;, based on the same technology. Because Unilever didn&#39;t have the same R&amp;D investment, the Unilever launch was more efficient, even though they weren&#39;t first. Both strategies have their pros and cons.&#0160;</p><p>However, the worst position is to be a timid number three or four. Yet many companies jump on the bandwagon of a new idea only when the presense of competition has endorsed the idea. The thinking is that is must be a good idea because everyone else is doing it.&#0160; </p><p>A few companies like Unilever excel at fast following (they call it &quot;stealing with pride&quot;), but most companies that consider themselves fast followers are actually slow and timid followers.&#0160;</p><p>The real opportunity is to be the Rule Breaker and change the game entirely. Skinny Cow took the challenger brand approach, launching tasty lowfat ice cream sandwiches that attracted a cult following. Skinny Cow fanatics identified themselves, not with the lowfat ice cream category, but with Skinny Cow. Skinny Cow generated so much value that Nestle ultimately paid a premium to acquire them. Rule makers recognize the value that rule breakers create. The slow followers rarely create value at all.&#0160; </p><p>Instead of obsessing about market share, think market creation. Become &quot;the only ones who do what you do&quot;.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c45151883401310fc77a98970c Tom Fishburne posted something http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-03-22T01:05:38Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401310fc77a97970chttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/comment2010-03-22T01:05:38Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburneiProcrastinatetag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340120a95fd70c970b Tom Fishburne is now following Miketeasdale http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/follow2010-03-21T21:54:13Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p01310fc6d220970cMiketeasdalehttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/persontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c45151883401310fc6c454970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-03-21T21:31:31Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401310fc6c451970ciProcrastinatehttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-03-21T21:31:31Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310fc6bf39970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100322.iprocrastinate" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401310fc6bf39970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310fc6bf39970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a> <br /> Last week, I happened across <a href="http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/">Tim Ferriss</a> handing out copies of 4-Four Hour Workweek at SXSW. I first read the book two years ago after hearing Tim speak at the Do Lectures in Wales. We were the only two Americans there and I was inspired by <a href="http://www.dolectures.com/speakers/speakers-2008/timothy-ferriss?">his talk</a>.</p><p>I reread some of the book on the flight home and was struck by story of Vilfredo Pareto and the discovery of the famous 80/20 Principle: 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs. </p><p>Tim relates Pareto to our work life by contrasting Being Effective from Being Efficient: </p><p><em>Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions. The options are almost limitless for creating “busyness”. <br /></em></p><p><em>Doing something unimportant well does not make it important. <br /></em></p><p><em> Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important. <br /></em></p><p><em>What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it. Efficiency is still important, but it is useless unless applied to the right things. <br /></em></p><p><em>Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. </em></p><p>It made me think about how much of our work days are taken up with activities that keep us busy and “feeling” productive, without actually “being” productive. </p><p>David Hieatt, founder of the Do Lectures, picked up this theme last month on his aptly named blog, <a href="http://davidhieatt.typepad.com/doonethingwell/2010/02/the-law-of-the-vital-few.html">do one thing well</a>: </p><p><em>You don’t need more time in the day. You don’t need to work longer hours. You don’t need to work weekends. You just need to spend more time on what you are brilliant at. And less time on all that other stuff. </em></p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310fc6bf39970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100322.iprocrastinate" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401310fc6bf39970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310fc6bf39970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a> <br /> Last week, I happened across <a href="http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/">Tim Ferriss</a> handing out copies of 4-Four Hour Workweek at SXSW. I first read the book two years ago after hearing Tim speak at the Do Lectures in Wales. We were the only two Americans there and I was inspired by <a href="http://www.dolectures.com/speakers/speakers-2008/timothy-ferriss?">his talk</a>.</p><p>I reread some of the book on the flight home and was struck by story of Vilfredo Pareto and the discovery of the famous 80/20 Principle: 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs. </p><p>Tim relates Pareto to our work life by contrasting Being Effective from Being Efficient: </p><p><em>Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions. The options are almost limitless for creating “busyness”. <br /></em></p><p><em>Doing something unimportant well does not make it important. <br /></em></p><p><em> Requiring a lot of time does not make a task important. <br /></em></p><p><em>What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it. Efficiency is still important, but it is useless unless applied to the right things. <br /></em></p><p><em>Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. </em></p><p>It made me think about how much of our work days are taken up with activities that keep us busy and “feeling” productive, without actually “being” productive. </p><p>David Hieatt, founder of the Do Lectures, picked up this theme last month on his aptly named blog, <a href="http://davidhieatt.typepad.com/doonethingwell/2010/02/the-law-of-the-vital-few.html">do one thing well</a>: </p><p><em>You don’t need more time in the day. You don’t need to work longer hours. You don’t need to work weekends. You just need to spend more time on what you are brilliant at. And less time on all that other stuff. </em></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c45151883401310fc36ed4970c Tom Fishburne is now following russell davies http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/follow2010-03-21T03:37:19Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00d8341c6b5453efrussell davieshttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/persontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c45151883401310fc36e45970c Tom Fishburne is now following dangermain http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/follow2010-03-21T03:36:05Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00d8341d35dd53efdangermainhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/persontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c45151883401310fad07d0970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-03-17T04:07:21Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340120a9460e38970bsxsw talk: innovation lessons from cartooninghttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-03-17T04:07:21Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><strong>(3/18 update: I just replaced the short montage with the full-length talk below)</strong></p> <p>I’m returning now from a few thought-stirring days in Austin at <a href="http://www.sxsw.com/interactive">SXSW</a>. On Friday, I gave a talk on what you can learn about innovation from cartoonists. This is a topic I’ve been evolving since I spoke at conferences in San Francisco and London last year.&#0160;</p> <p>SXSW created a short&#0160;<a href="http://ow.ly/1qoH9p" style="color: blue !important; text-decoration: underline !important; cursor: text !important; ">video montage</a>&#0160;and I just uploaded a full 17-minute version of the talk below. &#0160;it was really cool to see it picked up by <a href="http://ow.ly/1mN8U">Huffington Post</a> and <a href="http://www.prweekus.com/cartoonist-captures-sxsws-odd-artistic-corporate-mix/article/165810/">PR Week</a> this week:&#0160;</p> <object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10257985&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="300" src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10257985&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" /></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/10257985">SXSW talk: Innovation Lessons from Cartooning</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1769745">Tom Fishburne</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310faced62970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="float: right;"><img alt="Bill copy" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401310faced62970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310faced62970c-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Bill copy" /></a> I started with the story of Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin &amp; Hobbes, arguably one of the most successful cartoonists of all time (and a major reason I started drawing cartoons in the first place). After ten years, Bill quit&#0160;the strip and largely disappeared from the public eye. I was struck by this quote he gave around that time at a commencement address at Kenyon College:&#0160;</p> <p><em>“It never occurred to me that a comic strip I created would be at the mercy of a bloodsucking corporate parasite called a syndicate, and that I&#39;d be faced with countless ethical decisions masquerading as simple business decisions.”</em></p> <p>Since Bill quit, traditional newspaper cartooning has only gotten worse. If it was difficult then to break through the clutter on the shrinking newspaper page and allow your material to thrive, it’s even more difficult today. Traditional cartooning is one of the most savage markets around. Launching a new cartoon successfully has far lower odds than launching any other kind of innovation.&#0160;</p> <p>Yet there are cartoonists who are bucking the odds and making it work today. In the talk, I described these modern cartoonists as “lead users” that any of us who work in innovation can study. Any market where we launch innovation has similarities to the traditional newspaper cartooning path, in that both are cluttered and dominated by entrenched players. Launching something mediocre that tries to appeal to everyone simply won’t break through the clutter.&#0160; </p> <p>As one of the lessons, I shared the story of <a href="http://xkcd.com/149/">xkcd</a>&#0160;cartoonist Randall Munroe, who thrives because he is deliberately exclusive. Unless you’re a Unix programmer, you wouldn’t get the following cartoon because you wouldn’t know that “sudo” is a superuser-level command in Unix programming. This cartoon is not funny to most, but it’s screamingly funny to a few. In fact, when I gave this talk in London, someone in the audience stood up wearing a t-shirt with this cartoon on his chest.&#0160;</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a9460533970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Xkcd" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a9460533970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a9460533970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />I think that being deliberately exclusive is one of the ingredients to successful innovation. Who will wear your innovation on their chest?</p> <p></p> <p><strong>(3/18 update: I just replaced the short montage with the full-length talk below)</strong></p> <p>I’m returning now from a few thought-stirring days in Austin at <a href="http://www.sxsw.com/interactive">SXSW</a>. On Friday, I gave a talk on what you can learn about innovation from cartoonists. This is a topic I’ve been evolving since I spoke at conferences in San Francisco and London last year.&#0160;</p> <p>SXSW created a short&#0160;<a href="http://ow.ly/1qoH9p" style="color: blue !important; text-decoration: underline !important; cursor: text !important; ">video montage</a>&#0160;and I just uploaded a full 17-minute version of the talk below. &#0160;it was really cool to see it picked up by <a href="http://ow.ly/1mN8U">Huffington Post</a> and <a href="http://www.prweekus.com/cartoonist-captures-sxsws-odd-artistic-corporate-mix/article/165810/">PR Week</a> this week:&#0160;</p> <object height="300" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10257985&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="300" src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10257985&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" /></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/10257985">SXSW talk: Innovation Lessons from Cartooning</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1769745">Tom Fishburne</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310faced62970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="float: right;"><img alt="Bill copy" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401310faced62970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310faced62970c-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Bill copy" /></a> I started with the story of Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin &amp; Hobbes, arguably one of the most successful cartoonists of all time (and a major reason I started drawing cartoons in the first place). After ten years, Bill quit&#0160;the strip and largely disappeared from the public eye. I was struck by this quote he gave around that time at a commencement address at Kenyon College:&#0160;</p> <p><em>“It never occurred to me that a comic strip I created would be at the mercy of a bloodsucking corporate parasite called a syndicate, and that I&#39;d be faced with countless ethical decisions masquerading as simple business decisions.”</em></p> <p>Since Bill quit, traditional newspaper cartooning has only gotten worse. If it was difficult then to break through the clutter on the shrinking newspaper page and allow your material to thrive, it’s even more difficult today. Traditional cartooning is one of the most savage markets around. Launching a new cartoon successfully has far lower odds than launching any other kind of innovation.&#0160;</p> <p>Yet there are cartoonists who are bucking the odds and making it work today. In the talk, I described these modern cartoonists as “lead users” that any of us who work in innovation can study. Any market where we launch innovation has similarities to the traditional newspaper cartooning path, in that both are cluttered and dominated by entrenched players. Launching something mediocre that tries to appeal to everyone simply won’t break through the clutter.&#0160; </p> <p>As one of the lessons, I shared the story of <a href="http://xkcd.com/149/">xkcd</a>&#0160;cartoonist Randall Munroe, who thrives because he is deliberately exclusive. Unless you’re a Unix programmer, you wouldn’t get the following cartoon because you wouldn’t know that “sudo” is a superuser-level command in Unix programming. This cartoon is not funny to most, but it’s screamingly funny to a few. In fact, when I gave this talk in London, someone in the audience stood up wearing a t-shirt with this cartoon on his chest.&#0160;</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a9460533970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Xkcd" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a9460533970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a9460533970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />I think that being deliberately exclusive is one of the ingredients to successful innovation. Who will wear your innovation on their chest?</p> <p></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c45151883401310fa5cc03970c Tom Fishburne is now following The Typepad Team http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/follow2010-03-16T03:35:12Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00d83451c82369e2The Typepad Teamhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/persontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340120a921f096970b Tom Fishburne is now following Seth Godin http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/follow2010-03-10T20:02:41Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00d83451b31569e2Seth Godinhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/persontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c45151883401310f88b46f970c Tom Fishburne is now following Denise Wakeman http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/follow2010-03-10T20:02:35Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00d834515d1969e2Denise Wakemanhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/persontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340120a9114752970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-03-08T00:31:34Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401310f779835970cgame changing innovationhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-03-08T00:31:34Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a9110ac8970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100308.gamechanging" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a9110ac8970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a9110ac8970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />I&#39;m gearing up to <a href="http://my.sxsw.com/e/483">speak at SXSW</a> in Austin on Friday, so my mind is racing. My talk is called &quot;Drawing Board: Innovation Lessons from Cartooning&quot;. I&#39;m sharing the many ways that cartoonists come up with ideas and find ways to break through the clutter. I think these lessons can apply to any form of innovation.&#0160; </p><p>Last week, I met a semi-retired cartoonist who once had his cartoon strip in 150 newspapers. I told him that I dreamed of someday cartooning full-time. He replied, &quot;Are you kidding? How the hell could you do that nowadays?&quot; I told him I certainly wouldn&#39;t bank on the traditional route of newspaper syndicates.&#0160; </p><p>Cartoonist <a href="http://gapingvoid.com/books/">Hugh Macleod</a> gives this advice: &quot;Your plan for getting your work out there has to be as original as the actual work, perhaps even more so. The work has to create a totally new market. There’s no point trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for a miracle. All existing business models are wrong. Find a new one.&quot;&#0160; </p><p>Hugh blazed a new trail where he gives his cartoons away for free but makes his living <a href="http://gapingvoidgallery.com/">selling original art</a> made possible because he gives his cartoons away for free. Illustrator&#0160;<a href="http://www.marcjohns.com/">Marc Johns</a> is finding success here too.&#0160; </p><p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310f77cc97970c-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Life-in-Hell-No" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401310f77cc97970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310f77cc97970c-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Life-in-Hell-No" /></a> Even legendary&#0160;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Groening">Matt Groening</a> got his start by finding a new business model. Long before he created the Simpson&#39;s, he created a provocative series called Life in Hell, which he sold in the book corner of a record store where he worked. The material was too edgy to go the traditional newspaper syndicate route next to Dagwood Bumstead. So, Matt went after alternative papers. No broad syndication options existed for alternative papers, so Matt started one. Today, Matt&#39;s company, Acme Features Syndicate, syndicates Life in Hell in over 250 weekly alternative papers.&#0160; </p><p>Cartoonists have to find new ways to go to market by necessity, but it&#39;s important to question your go-to-market approach for any form of innovation. Most new products every year are launched the same well-worn way as everything else. New products land on the same over-crowded shelves &quot;trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for a miracle&quot;.&#0160; </p><p>In 2002, I interviewed Richard Tait, co-founder of <a href="http://www.cranium.com">Cranium</a>, one of the the fastest selling board games in history. I asked Richard what led to their success. He told me, &quot;Starbucks&quot;. Every other board game maker followed the traditional path of game expos and mass channels. Richard and Whit Alexander didn&#39;t know a thing about board games when then started, so they missed the traditional retail buying windows. Running out of options, they naively pitched Howard Schultz about selling their game in their cafes, which had only had coffee merchandise before then. &#0160;</p><p>This nontraditional launch gave Cranium an edge over every other game launched that year the traditional way.&#0160;Sure, the game itself had to be brilliant to be successful. But, finding a completely new path to market was just as important to their success.&#0160;</p><p>Businesses often treat their latest innovations like commodities the moment the product is out the door. They bring them to market the same-old tried-and-true way. They resort to the same price discount strategies to drive trial. They forget that being innovative doesn&#39;t stop once the product ships.</p><p>If we don&#39;t want our brands to become commodities, we shouldn&#39;t treat our brands like commodities.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a9110ac8970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100308.gamechanging" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a9110ac8970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a9110ac8970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />I&#39;m gearing up to <a href="http://my.sxsw.com/e/483">speak at SXSW</a> in Austin on Friday, so my mind is racing. My talk is called &quot;Drawing Board: Innovation Lessons from Cartooning&quot;. I&#39;m sharing the many ways that cartoonists come up with ideas and find ways to break through the clutter. I think these lessons can apply to any form of innovation.&#0160; </p><p>Last week, I met a semi-retired cartoonist who once had his cartoon strip in 150 newspapers. I told him that I dreamed of someday cartooning full-time. He replied, &quot;Are you kidding? How the hell could you do that nowadays?&quot; I told him I certainly wouldn&#39;t bank on the traditional route of newspaper syndicates.&#0160; </p><p>Cartoonist <a href="http://gapingvoid.com/books/">Hugh Macleod</a> gives this advice: &quot;Your plan for getting your work out there has to be as original as the actual work, perhaps even more so. The work has to create a totally new market. There’s no point trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for a miracle. All existing business models are wrong. Find a new one.&quot;&#0160; </p><p>Hugh blazed a new trail where he gives his cartoons away for free but makes his living <a href="http://gapingvoidgallery.com/">selling original art</a> made possible because he gives his cartoons away for free. Illustrator&#0160;<a href="http://www.marcjohns.com/">Marc Johns</a> is finding success here too.&#0160; </p><p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310f77cc97970c-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Life-in-Hell-No" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401310f77cc97970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310f77cc97970c-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Life-in-Hell-No" /></a> Even legendary&#0160;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Groening">Matt Groening</a> got his start by finding a new business model. Long before he created the Simpson&#39;s, he created a provocative series called Life in Hell, which he sold in the book corner of a record store where he worked. The material was too edgy to go the traditional newspaper syndicate route next to Dagwood Bumstead. So, Matt went after alternative papers. No broad syndication options existed for alternative papers, so Matt started one. Today, Matt&#39;s company, Acme Features Syndicate, syndicates Life in Hell in over 250 weekly alternative papers.&#0160; </p><p>Cartoonists have to find new ways to go to market by necessity, but it&#39;s important to question your go-to-market approach for any form of innovation. Most new products every year are launched the same well-worn way as everything else. New products land on the same over-crowded shelves &quot;trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for a miracle&quot;.&#0160; </p><p>In 2002, I interviewed Richard Tait, co-founder of <a href="http://www.cranium.com">Cranium</a>, one of the the fastest selling board games in history. I asked Richard what led to their success. He told me, &quot;Starbucks&quot;. Every other board game maker followed the traditional path of game expos and mass channels. Richard and Whit Alexander didn&#39;t know a thing about board games when then started, so they missed the traditional retail buying windows. Running out of options, they naively pitched Howard Schultz about selling their game in their cafes, which had only had coffee merchandise before then. &#0160;</p><p>This nontraditional launch gave Cranium an edge over every other game launched that year the traditional way.&#0160;Sure, the game itself had to be brilliant to be successful. But, finding a completely new path to market was just as important to their success.&#0160;</p><p>Businesses often treat their latest innovations like commodities the moment the product is out the door. They bring them to market the same-old tried-and-true way. They resort to the same price discount strategies to drive trial. They forget that being innovative doesn&#39;t stop once the product ships.</p><p>If we don&#39;t want our brands to become commodities, we shouldn&#39;t treat our brands like commodities.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340120a8e288d2970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-02-28T23:58:47Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883401310f4919ba970cthe ivory towerhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-02-28T23:58:47Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a8e24985970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100301.ivorytower" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a8e24985970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a8e24985970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />Last week I traveled to snowy Toronto with a sales director. Over two days, we saw more than 30 Canadian stores and talked with dozens of consumers, retail buyers, store managers, and shelf stockers. It reminded me that I need to get out of the office a lot more often.&#0160;</p><p>It’s easy to think of marketing as what happens in the head office: the PowerPoint presentations, the slick ad boards, the debates in meetings. But brand meaning is created by consumers, not by marketers. Consumers interact with brands in the midst of their busy, chaotic lives, not in the artificial, carefully scripted way we imagine in brand onions and positioning statements.&#0160;</p><p>It doesn’t matter how our brand resonates in a 30-slide PowerPoint deck with crisp graphics. It matters how it resonates in a crowded shelf of a dimly lit pharmacy to a time-pressed mother of four.&#0160;</p><p>I remember something I learned as an intern on Cheerios from Ann Simonds who headed up our cereal business at the time. She told our New York based creative director, “I don’t care how you think Cheerios plays in Soho. I care how it plays in Peoria”. And she got the creative team on a plane.&#0160;</p><p>It’s easy in business to get trapped in the ivory tower, detached from the actual consumers who buy our products. But you’ll learn a lot more away from your desk than at it. No matter how much Nielsen data you have.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a8e24985970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100301.ivorytower" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a8e24985970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a8e24985970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />Last week I traveled to snowy Toronto with a sales director. Over two days, we saw more than 30 Canadian stores and talked with dozens of consumers, retail buyers, store managers, and shelf stockers. It reminded me that I need to get out of the office a lot more often.&#0160;</p><p>It’s easy to think of marketing as what happens in the head office: the PowerPoint presentations, the slick ad boards, the debates in meetings. But brand meaning is created by consumers, not by marketers. Consumers interact with brands in the midst of their busy, chaotic lives, not in the artificial, carefully scripted way we imagine in brand onions and positioning statements.&#0160;</p><p>It doesn’t matter how our brand resonates in a 30-slide PowerPoint deck with crisp graphics. It matters how it resonates in a crowded shelf of a dimly lit pharmacy to a time-pressed mother of four.&#0160;</p><p>I remember something I learned as an intern on Cheerios from Ann Simonds who headed up our cereal business at the time. She told our New York based creative director, “I don’t care how you think Cheerios plays in Soho. I care how it plays in Peoria”. And she got the creative team on a plane.&#0160;</p><p>It’s easy in business to get trapped in the ivory tower, detached from the actual consumers who buy our products. But you’ll learn a lot more away from your desk than at it. No matter how much Nielsen data you have.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c45151883401310f26a4a0970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-02-21T20:49:19Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340120a8bf5da1970bthe art of package designhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-02-21T20:49:18Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310f2651a0970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100222.package" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401310f2651a0970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310f2651a0970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a> <br /><p>Working at <a href="http://www.methodhome.com/">method </a>has taught me that package design is the single most important part of your marketing plan. Founder Eric Ryan likes to say that he views cutting steel as a marketing expense. Once a consumer told me that he buys method because the package design makes him want to lick the bottles. </p><p>Remarkable design, whether in the store or in the consumer’s hand, makes every other aspect of marketing possible. Zero advertising on a remarkable product trumps heavy advertising on a mediocre product. </p><p>Remarkable design implies that it’s fundamentally different from what is already on the shelf. That’s what makes it worthy of remark. It is that fundamental difference that allows a brand to break through the clutter.</p><p> Yet there is reluctance to be different. In every design project I’ve witnessed, there has been a headwind that pressures the project to what has been done before. When that headwind blows from client to agency, it’s particularly hard to resist. Sometimes this headwind is created by the conventional rules of the category. Sometimes it’s a fear of alienating consumers. But the headwind, if not countered, restrains design to the path of least resistance. </p><p>The result is that the vast majority of products launched every year are not that different from what’s been launched before. </p><p>Seth Godin recently <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/02/the-brand-the-package-the-story-and-the-worldview.html">critiqued the package design</a> of an African chocolate brand called Madecasse. Madecasse has a remarkable story (it’s the only imported chocolate brand made in Africa with local beans), but the package design looks no different than the myriad of high-end chocolate brands already on the market. The brand’s non-remarkable packaging actually camouflages the brand’s remarkable story. </p><p>The best cure I’ve found is to be stimulated by package design that tries something different. Dennis Thompson at <a href="http://www.ttdg.com/">Thompson Design Group</a> sends out emails to all current and former clients several times a week with examples of provocative design he stumbles across. </p><p> If you don’t know Dennis, read <a href="http://www.thedieline.com/">The Dieline</a>. Have everyone on your team (no matter what role they play) discuss those examples regularly. Instead of benchmarking off of what’s been done before, try to be inspired by package design that dares to be different.</p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310f2651a0970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100222.package" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c45151883401310f2651a0970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c45151883401310f2651a0970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a> <br /><p>Working at <a href="http://www.methodhome.com/">method </a>has taught me that package design is the single most important part of your marketing plan. Founder Eric Ryan likes to say that he views cutting steel as a marketing expense. Once a consumer told me that he buys method because the package design makes him want to lick the bottles. </p><p>Remarkable design, whether in the store or in the consumer’s hand, makes every other aspect of marketing possible. Zero advertising on a remarkable product trumps heavy advertising on a mediocre product. </p><p>Remarkable design implies that it’s fundamentally different from what is already on the shelf. That’s what makes it worthy of remark. It is that fundamental difference that allows a brand to break through the clutter.</p><p> Yet there is reluctance to be different. In every design project I’ve witnessed, there has been a headwind that pressures the project to what has been done before. When that headwind blows from client to agency, it’s particularly hard to resist. Sometimes this headwind is created by the conventional rules of the category. Sometimes it’s a fear of alienating consumers. But the headwind, if not countered, restrains design to the path of least resistance. </p><p>The result is that the vast majority of products launched every year are not that different from what’s been launched before. </p><p>Seth Godin recently <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/02/the-brand-the-package-the-story-and-the-worldview.html">critiqued the package design</a> of an African chocolate brand called Madecasse. Madecasse has a remarkable story (it’s the only imported chocolate brand made in Africa with local beans), but the package design looks no different than the myriad of high-end chocolate brands already on the market. The brand’s non-remarkable packaging actually camouflages the brand’s remarkable story. </p><p>The best cure I’ve found is to be stimulated by package design that tries something different. Dennis Thompson at <a href="http://www.ttdg.com/">Thompson Design Group</a> sends out emails to all current and former clients several times a week with examples of provocative design he stumbles across. </p><p> If you don’t know Dennis, read <a href="http://www.thedieline.com/">The Dieline</a>. Have everyone on your team (no matter what role they play) discuss those examples regularly. Instead of benchmarking off of what’s been done before, try to be inspired by package design that dares to be different.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834012877720882970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-02-07T16:32:19Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340120a86d432e970binfluencer stalkinghttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-02-07T16:32:19Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128776fa7bc970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100208.influencer" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340128776fa7bc970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128776fa7bc970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a></p> <p>I doubt there&#39;s a marketing plan in the world nowadays without some form of influencer marketing focus. &#0160;Reaching influencers is part of every agency pitch. With mainstream media becoming less effective over time and widespread recognition that influencers play a big role in buying decisions, the influencer hunt is on.</p> <p>The challenge is how to do it right. &#0160;How do you identify who is really an influencer? &#0160;How do you reach them? &#0160;And with everyone else targeting influencers, how do you break through the clutter?</p> <p>Many brands apply the same heavy-handed approach to influencer marketing that they do with mainstream marketing. &#0160;They shout. &#0160;</p> <p>Somehow I ended up on agency influencer lists this last year, and I now receive dozens of emails a week, asking me to write about some piece of news or another. Aside from the fact that these emails are unsolicited, they are usually badly targeted, often lacking any news that is even moderately relevant to what I cover. &#0160;The other problem is that they usually arrive in an impersonal press release format with &quot;for immediate release&quot; marked at the top. One recent note was addressed to &quot;Dear &lt;first name&gt; &lt;last name&gt;&quot; because their email mail merge didn&#39;t work.</p> <p>It&#39;s a common pitfall to assume that influencer marketing is just the same old marketing, only targeted more finely. If whatever you&#39;re trying to share is mediocre from the start, it&#39;s simply not going to spread, no matter how loudly you shout it or how many people you put on your shouting list. It doesn&#39;t matter if they&#39;re&#0160;influential&#0160;or not.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a86df254970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Wine" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a86df254970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a86df254970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Wine" /></a>One of my favorite (albeit 5-year old) examples of a bootstrapped influencer marketing program is the Stormhoek winery <a href="http://gapingvoid.com/2005/12/29/blogging-doubled-stormhoek-sales-in-less-than-twelve-months/">100 Blogging Dinners in 100 Days</a>,&#0160;developed by Hugh MacLeod.&#0160;The winery credits this event for doubling their sales in 12 months. They sent out a free pre-release bottle of wine to any blogger who was interested (with no obligation to write about it), along with a <a href="http://">great manifesto</a>&#0160;about wine and blogging. &#0160;It didn&#39;t shout. &#0160;It started an intriguing conversation and talked to bloggers as people, not as press contacts or direct marketing targets. &#0160;</p> <p>I like this quote from Hugh after the event: &quot;Blogging as a marketing tool is easier when you think of it as a chemical catalyst, not as a hammer and nail.&quot; &#0160;I think that &quot;chemical catalyst&quot; is a good description of influencer marketing in general too.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128776fa7bc970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100208.influencer" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340128776fa7bc970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128776fa7bc970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a></p> <p>I doubt there&#39;s a marketing plan in the world nowadays without some form of influencer marketing focus. &#0160;Reaching influencers is part of every agency pitch. With mainstream media becoming less effective over time and widespread recognition that influencers play a big role in buying decisions, the influencer hunt is on.</p> <p>The challenge is how to do it right. &#0160;How do you identify who is really an influencer? &#0160;How do you reach them? &#0160;And with everyone else targeting influencers, how do you break through the clutter?</p> <p>Many brands apply the same heavy-handed approach to influencer marketing that they do with mainstream marketing. &#0160;They shout. &#0160;</p> <p>Somehow I ended up on agency influencer lists this last year, and I now receive dozens of emails a week, asking me to write about some piece of news or another. Aside from the fact that these emails are unsolicited, they are usually badly targeted, often lacking any news that is even moderately relevant to what I cover. &#0160;The other problem is that they usually arrive in an impersonal press release format with &quot;for immediate release&quot; marked at the top. One recent note was addressed to &quot;Dear &lt;first name&gt; &lt;last name&gt;&quot; because their email mail merge didn&#39;t work.</p> <p>It&#39;s a common pitfall to assume that influencer marketing is just the same old marketing, only targeted more finely. If whatever you&#39;re trying to share is mediocre from the start, it&#39;s simply not going to spread, no matter how loudly you shout it or how many people you put on your shouting list. It doesn&#39;t matter if they&#39;re&#0160;influential&#0160;or not.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a86df254970b-pi" style="float: right;"><img alt="Wine" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a86df254970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a86df254970b-800wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Wine" /></a>One of my favorite (albeit 5-year old) examples of a bootstrapped influencer marketing program is the Stormhoek winery <a href="http://gapingvoid.com/2005/12/29/blogging-doubled-stormhoek-sales-in-less-than-twelve-months/">100 Blogging Dinners in 100 Days</a>,&#0160;developed by Hugh MacLeod.&#0160;The winery credits this event for doubling their sales in 12 months. They sent out a free pre-release bottle of wine to any blogger who was interested (with no obligation to write about it), along with a <a href="http://">great manifesto</a>&#0160;about wine and blogging. &#0160;It didn&#39;t shout. &#0160;It started an intriguing conversation and talked to bloggers as people, not as press contacts or direct marketing targets. &#0160;</p> <p>I like this quote from Hugh after the event: &quot;Blogging as a marketing tool is easier when you think of it as a chemical catalyst, not as a hammer and nail.&quot; &#0160;I think that &quot;chemical catalyst&quot; is a good description of influencer marketing in general too.</p> <p></p> <p></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340120a837f29c970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-01-31T22:54:54Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340120a837aebe970bcommunication etiquettehttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-01-31T22:54:54Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128773b4005970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100201d.meeting" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340128773b4005970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128773b4005970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />I was struck by a recent Joel Spolsky <a href="http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100201/a-little-less-conversation.html">column</a>&#0160;in Inc. magazine on dysfunctional communication in growing companies.</p> <p>“What used to work with three people in a garage all talking to one another about everything just doesn’t work when your head count reaches 10 or 20 people. Everybody who doesn’t need to be in that meeting is killing productivity.” </p> <p>Joel goes further by describing Brook’s Law: “Adding people to a late project tends to make it run later still.” </p> <p>This counter-intuitive observation highlights a serious business problem: well-intended over-communication. Each additional person needed to keep in the loop exponentially slows down progress. </p> <p> I’ve struggled with this exact dilemma. Three years ago, I arrived in the UK to help launch the method brand there. At the start, there were three: a sales guy, a supply chain guy, and me. We all knew everything about the business and could practically finish each others’ sentences. Here we are in our first day in the office (we didn’t have a printer yet, hence the sideways laptop). </p><p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a837e826970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Method" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a837e826970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a837e826970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />As we grew the team to 10 people and needed to coordinate more with the home office in the US, the lines of communication were stressed. We could no longer have everyone involved in every decision. But, those who weren’t involved felt excluded. We were damned if we did, and damned if we didn’t.</p> <p>We ultimately realized that democracy in the workplace doesn’t scale. Not everyone can have a voice on every decision. To even try to accommodate everyone results in peace treaties. They slow you down and ultimately sand the edges of what you’re trying to create. </p> <p>Joel recommends addressing this problem head on: “as the boss, you need to design ways to reduce communications paths.” </p> <p>This sounds harsh, because it runs counter to etiquette. We intrinsically feel that we need to communicate more to have a healthy office culture. To restrict communication feels impersonal. </p><p>Yet, there’s a fine line between etiquette and habit. The accepted code of behavior can actually be what is slowing you down. As you evolve, it’s good to question all of your conventions and decide whether you’re still well-served by what served you before. </p><p>Even J&amp;J periodically questions their famous “credo”. CEO James Burke once instructed his executives to either recommit to the company credo or “tear it off the wall”. </p><p>It&#39;s a good discipline to continually challenge ourselves what etiquette is making us more successful and what should be torn off the wall.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128773b4005970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100201d.meeting" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340128773b4005970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128773b4005970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />I was struck by a recent Joel Spolsky <a href="http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100201/a-little-less-conversation.html">column</a>&#0160;in Inc. magazine on dysfunctional communication in growing companies.</p> <p>“What used to work with three people in a garage all talking to one another about everything just doesn’t work when your head count reaches 10 or 20 people. Everybody who doesn’t need to be in that meeting is killing productivity.” </p> <p>Joel goes further by describing Brook’s Law: “Adding people to a late project tends to make it run later still.” </p> <p>This counter-intuitive observation highlights a serious business problem: well-intended over-communication. Each additional person needed to keep in the loop exponentially slows down progress. </p> <p> I’ve struggled with this exact dilemma. Three years ago, I arrived in the UK to help launch the method brand there. At the start, there were three: a sales guy, a supply chain guy, and me. We all knew everything about the business and could practically finish each others’ sentences. Here we are in our first day in the office (we didn’t have a printer yet, hence the sideways laptop). </p><p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a837e826970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Method" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a837e826970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a837e826970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />As we grew the team to 10 people and needed to coordinate more with the home office in the US, the lines of communication were stressed. We could no longer have everyone involved in every decision. But, those who weren’t involved felt excluded. We were damned if we did, and damned if we didn’t.</p> <p>We ultimately realized that democracy in the workplace doesn’t scale. Not everyone can have a voice on every decision. To even try to accommodate everyone results in peace treaties. They slow you down and ultimately sand the edges of what you’re trying to create. </p> <p>Joel recommends addressing this problem head on: “as the boss, you need to design ways to reduce communications paths.” </p> <p>This sounds harsh, because it runs counter to etiquette. We intrinsically feel that we need to communicate more to have a healthy office culture. To restrict communication feels impersonal. </p><p>Yet, there’s a fine line between etiquette and habit. The accepted code of behavior can actually be what is slowing you down. As you evolve, it’s good to question all of your conventions and decide whether you’re still well-served by what served you before. </p><p>Even J&amp;J periodically questions their famous “credo”. CEO James Burke once instructed his executives to either recommit to the company credo or “tear it off the wall”. </p><p>It&#39;s a good discipline to continually challenge ourselves what etiquette is making us more successful and what should be torn off the wall.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340120a8084423970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-01-25T01:54:23Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340128770b57f5970cthe career trapezehttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-01-25T01:54:23Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128770b5609970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100125b.trapeze" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340128770b5609970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128770b5609970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />My mentor Jim Lawrence inspired this cartoon with an insight he shared recently that a career is more like riding a trapeze than climbing a ladder. Most careers are not rung-by-rung linear paths. Instead, they involve a series of flying leaps, not knowing whether those leaps will take you up, down, or sideways. Or if you&#39;ll miss the trapeze altogether. Or if there&#39;s even a net.&#0160;</p><p>It takes courage to take each leap. And patience when you&#39;re not headed the direction you&#39;d like.&#0160; </p><p>When I started at General Mills after business school, there was too much focus on the career ladder and your place on it. Promotions were awarded based on seniority. The best performer in your class was always in line behind the worst performer in the class ahead. No matter your past experience, you started at the bottom and climbed. It was a great place to learn. It was also a source of frustration whenever the career ladder slowed (which inspired this cartoon in 2003).</p><p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a8083a4c970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="030310.careerpath" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a8083a4c970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a8083a4c970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />Thinking about your career in purely a linear way focuses you on all the wrong things and blinds you to the actual experiences along the way. Worst of all, it can make you risk-adverse.&#0160; </p><p>One of the entrepreneurs I admire most is David Hieatt, who founded the Welsh clothing company howies, sold it to Timberland, and made the <a href="http://brainfood.howies.co.uk/2009/10/11295/">hard decision to leave</a> this last October:&#0160; </p><p><em>&quot;From this day forward howies will begin to appear in my rear-view mirror. At the same time I will be sitting in my shed with Sonny (my dog) working away on the future. Keeping me company will be the knowledge that Patagonia was not Yvon’s first company, Esprit was not Doug’s first company, and Steve Jobs got sacked from Apple. For me those are good role models to have in the shed with you.&quot;</em>&#0160; </p><p>David started a blog a few weeks ago to <a href="http://davidhieatt.typepad.com/doonethingwell/2010/01/learning-from-a-runway.html">chronicle his soul-searching</a>&#0160;as he takes this next leap of faith. I find his journey incredibly inspiring.&#0160; </p><p><em>&quot;It’s called a leap of faith for a good reason. It’s a risk. And the outcome is far from certain. And that is why we tend to put off these life-changing decisions. Say ‘what the hell’ and jump. And hope you can build some wings on the way down.&quot;</em></p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128770b5609970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100125b.trapeze" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340128770b5609970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340128770b5609970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />My mentor Jim Lawrence inspired this cartoon with an insight he shared recently that a career is more like riding a trapeze than climbing a ladder. Most careers are not rung-by-rung linear paths. Instead, they involve a series of flying leaps, not knowing whether those leaps will take you up, down, or sideways. Or if you&#39;ll miss the trapeze altogether. Or if there&#39;s even a net.&#0160;</p><p>It takes courage to take each leap. And patience when you&#39;re not headed the direction you&#39;d like.&#0160; </p><p>When I started at General Mills after business school, there was too much focus on the career ladder and your place on it. Promotions were awarded based on seniority. The best performer in your class was always in line behind the worst performer in the class ahead. No matter your past experience, you started at the bottom and climbed. It was a great place to learn. It was also a source of frustration whenever the career ladder slowed (which inspired this cartoon in 2003).</p><p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a8083a4c970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="030310.careerpath" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a8083a4c970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a8083a4c970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />Thinking about your career in purely a linear way focuses you on all the wrong things and blinds you to the actual experiences along the way. Worst of all, it can make you risk-adverse.&#0160; </p><p>One of the entrepreneurs I admire most is David Hieatt, who founded the Welsh clothing company howies, sold it to Timberland, and made the <a href="http://brainfood.howies.co.uk/2009/10/11295/">hard decision to leave</a> this last October:&#0160; </p><p><em>&quot;From this day forward howies will begin to appear in my rear-view mirror. At the same time I will be sitting in my shed with Sonny (my dog) working away on the future. Keeping me company will be the knowledge that Patagonia was not Yvon’s first company, Esprit was not Doug’s first company, and Steve Jobs got sacked from Apple. For me those are good role models to have in the shed with you.&quot;</em>&#0160; </p><p>David started a blog a few weeks ago to <a href="http://davidhieatt.typepad.com/doonethingwell/2010/01/learning-from-a-runway.html">chronicle his soul-searching</a>&#0160;as he takes this next leap of faith. I find his journey incredibly inspiring.&#0160; </p><p><em>&quot;It’s called a leap of faith for a good reason. It’s a risk. And the outcome is far from certain. And that is why we tend to put off these life-changing decisions. Say ‘what the hell’ and jump. And hope you can build some wings on the way down.&quot;</em></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340120a8002895970b Tom Fishburne is now following david hieatt http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/follow2010-01-23T05:23:16Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p012876c20577970cdavid hieatthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/persontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340120a7ea31de970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-01-19T02:00:10Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c451518834012876ed1524970cthe six types of ideashttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-01-19T02:00:10Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p></p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876ed2278970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100118e.ideas" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012876ed2278970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876ed2278970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p><p>Missy Carvin emailed me this week asking if I had any cartoons about Zombie ideas, &quot;those terrible ideas that exist within an organization that never, ever die, just resurface every few years&quot;.&#0160;</p><p>It struck me that there are different types of ideas in organizations. Most time is spent chasing the elusive &quot;Eureka&quot; moment, where the clouds part and an idea appears fully formed. Ideations are staged to encourage this type of idea. Yet, not only are these &quot;Eureka&quot; moments few and far between, they don&#39;t appear in an orderly fashion, just because 90 minutes are scheduled in a room with beanbag chairs.&#0160;</p> <p>The vast majority of ideas in an organization fall in between these two extremes, the Eurekas and the Zombies. The real innovation challenge is guiding ideas to a progressively better place.&#0160;</p><p></p><p>Last week, a method scientist named Kaj held up a prototype with the word &quot;FAIL&quot; written in Sharpie on the front of it. He said, &quot;I&#39;m glad this idea was a complete failure. Because this idea failed, we were forced to change course entirely and come up with this other idea instead.&quot; And then he pointed to the new product we were in the midst of launching.&#0160;</p><p>I think the art of managing ideas is less about generating new ideas than in managing the ideas already in your organization. Less Zombie, more Phoenix.</p><p>As David Kelley at IDEO famously says, you have to &quot;fail faster to succeed sooner.&quot;&#0160;</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876ed2278970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100118e.ideas" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012876ed2278970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876ed2278970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p><p>Missy Carvin emailed me this week asking if I had any cartoons about Zombie ideas, &quot;those terrible ideas that exist within an organization that never, ever die, just resurface every few years&quot;.&#0160;</p><p>It struck me that there are different types of ideas in organizations. Most time is spent chasing the elusive &quot;Eureka&quot; moment, where the clouds part and an idea appears fully formed. Ideations are staged to encourage this type of idea. Yet, not only are these &quot;Eureka&quot; moments few and far between, they don&#39;t appear in an orderly fashion, just because 90 minutes are scheduled in a room with beanbag chairs.&#0160;</p> <p>The vast majority of ideas in an organization fall in between these two extremes, the Eurekas and the Zombies. The real innovation challenge is guiding ideas to a progressively better place.&#0160;</p><p></p><p>Last week, a method scientist named Kaj held up a prototype with the word &quot;FAIL&quot; written in Sharpie on the front of it. He said, &quot;I&#39;m glad this idea was a complete failure. Because this idea failed, we were forced to change course entirely and come up with this other idea instead.&quot; And then he pointed to the new product we were in the midst of launching.&#0160;</p><p>I think the art of managing ideas is less about generating new ideas than in managing the ideas already in your organization. Less Zombie, more Phoenix.</p><p>As David Kelley at IDEO famously says, you have to &quot;fail faster to succeed sooner.&quot;&#0160;</p> <p></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340120a7c16c03970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-01-11T04:53:56Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340120a7bcf2dd970bthe critical pathhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-01-11T04:53:55Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876c3266a970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100111c.criticalpath" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012876c3266a970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876c3266a970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />I&#39;m gearing up to talk at <a href="http://my.sxsw.com/events/event/483">SXSW</a> in Austin in March. &#0160;My topic is titled &quot;Drawing Board: Innovation Lessons from Cartooning&quot; and it&#39;s loosely based on <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/tomfishburne/2009/05/innovation-and-cartoons.html">a few talks</a> I gave last year about cartooning as a metaphor for innovation. &#0160;Both activities involve coming up with ideas and bringing them to life.</p><p>As I prepare for the talk, I&#39;ve been thinking a lot about why so many new products are mediocre and uninspiring. &#0160;I don&#39;t think they result from a shortage of ideas. &#0160;Instead, I think that the blame falls on the innovation process itself. &#0160;Far more important than the Eureka moment in the Ideation is what happens back in the office long after the flip charts and markers are put away.&#0160;The magic is in the process.&#0160;Great ideas are either watered down or made stronger depending on how they are brought to life. &#0160;</p><p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_path_method">Critical Path</a> is a project management process coined by DuPont in the 50s. &#0160;It boils down a project into the few key steps that dictates how long a project will take. &#0160;Far too often, the Critical Path gets bogged down by inconsequential stuff. &#0160;Too much emphasis gets placed on upfront navel gazing and not enough on actual development. &#0160;</p><p>The result is that the edges get sanded in development and the ideas (however well brainstormed) become less and less remarkable. &#0160;This is ironic because ideas theoretically should become stronger by the diversity of thought that goes into them.</p><p>The best rule of thumb is to get to development quickly and start building prototypes. Prototypes are the best way to communicate ideas, dispel naysayers, rally the troops, predict flaws, and spark improvements.&#0160;</p><p>We should spend less time&#0160;word smithing and more time building.</p><p></p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876c3266a970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100111c.criticalpath" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012876c3266a970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876c3266a970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />I&#39;m gearing up to talk at <a href="http://my.sxsw.com/events/event/483">SXSW</a> in Austin in March. &#0160;My topic is titled &quot;Drawing Board: Innovation Lessons from Cartooning&quot; and it&#39;s loosely based on <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/tomfishburne/2009/05/innovation-and-cartoons.html">a few talks</a> I gave last year about cartooning as a metaphor for innovation. &#0160;Both activities involve coming up with ideas and bringing them to life.</p><p>As I prepare for the talk, I&#39;ve been thinking a lot about why so many new products are mediocre and uninspiring. &#0160;I don&#39;t think they result from a shortage of ideas. &#0160;Instead, I think that the blame falls on the innovation process itself. &#0160;Far more important than the Eureka moment in the Ideation is what happens back in the office long after the flip charts and markers are put away.&#0160;The magic is in the process.&#0160;Great ideas are either watered down or made stronger depending on how they are brought to life. &#0160;</p><p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_path_method">Critical Path</a> is a project management process coined by DuPont in the 50s. &#0160;It boils down a project into the few key steps that dictates how long a project will take. &#0160;Far too often, the Critical Path gets bogged down by inconsequential stuff. &#0160;Too much emphasis gets placed on upfront navel gazing and not enough on actual development. &#0160;</p><p>The result is that the edges get sanded in development and the ideas (however well brainstormed) become less and less remarkable. &#0160;This is ironic because ideas theoretically should become stronger by the diversity of thought that goes into them.</p><p>The best rule of thumb is to get to development quickly and start building prototypes. Prototypes are the best way to communicate ideas, dispel naysayers, rally the troops, predict flaws, and spark improvements.&#0160;</p><p>We should spend less time&#0160;word smithing and more time building.</p><p></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834012876a268f6970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2010-01-04T01:12:22Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340128769dcf6c970cdefinition of insanityhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2010-01-04T01:12:22Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a79b393a970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100104.definitioninsanity" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a79b393a970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a79b393a970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p>I’ve always liked the Albert Einstein quote, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."&nbsp; </p> <p>I recently started following the witting observations of <a href="http://twitter.com/meetingboy">@MeetingBoy</a> ("Say or do something stupid in a meeting and I'll tweet it").&nbsp;&nbsp;He's putting out a 2010 MeetingBoy calendar in the next week or so and asked if I'd create a cartoon to illustrate one of his tweets. So, this cartoon is based on one that I liked the most: “Definition of insanity: holding the same meeting with the same people every week and expecting different results.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Last year I heard Seth Godin speak in London. After his talk, someone in the audience asked Seth how he found enough hours in the day to be so prolific. Seth answered that he never had to go to meetings. This gave him an extra four hours a day than those in the audience who did.&nbsp;</p> <p>A month later, Seth wrote a great post&nbsp;called, "<a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/03/getting-serious-about-your-meeting-problem.html">Getting serious about your meeting problem</a>." &nbsp;He squarely addresses the dysfunctional meeting habits that most businesses have and offers a few suggestions to break the cycle of meeting insanity, including these nuggets:</p> <p><em>"Understand that all problems are not the same. So why are your meetings? Does every issue deserve an hour? Why is there a default length?</em></p> <p><em>Require preparation. Give people things to read or do before the meeting, and if they don't, kick them out.</em></p> <p><em>Remove all the chairs from the conference room. I'm serious."</em></p> <p>First thing this week, I'm going to question all of the recurring meetings on my calendar, see which ones I can overhaul and which ones I can remove entirely. &nbsp;Probably the best new year's work resolution I can make.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a79b393a970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="100104.definitioninsanity" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a79b393a970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a79b393a970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p>I’ve always liked the Albert Einstein quote, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."&nbsp; </p> <p>I recently started following the witting observations of <a href="http://twitter.com/meetingboy">@MeetingBoy</a> ("Say or do something stupid in a meeting and I'll tweet it").&nbsp;&nbsp;He's putting out a 2010 MeetingBoy calendar in the next week or so and asked if I'd create a cartoon to illustrate one of his tweets. So, this cartoon is based on one that I liked the most: “Definition of insanity: holding the same meeting with the same people every week and expecting different results.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Last year I heard Seth Godin speak in London. After his talk, someone in the audience asked Seth how he found enough hours in the day to be so prolific. Seth answered that he never had to go to meetings. This gave him an extra four hours a day than those in the audience who did.&nbsp;</p> <p>A month later, Seth wrote a great post&nbsp;called, "<a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/03/getting-serious-about-your-meeting-problem.html">Getting serious about your meeting problem</a>." &nbsp;He squarely addresses the dysfunctional meeting habits that most businesses have and offers a few suggestions to break the cycle of meeting insanity, including these nuggets:</p> <p><em>"Understand that all problems are not the same. So why are your meetings? Does every issue deserve an hour? Why is there a default length?</em></p> <p><em>Require preparation. Give people things to read or do before the meeting, and if they don't, kick them out.</em></p> <p><em>Remove all the chairs from the conference room. I'm serious."</em></p> <p>First thing this week, I'm going to question all of the recurring meetings on my calendar, see which ones I can overhaul and which ones I can remove entirely. &nbsp;Probably the best new year's work resolution I can make.</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834012876879b9b970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2009-12-28T07:22:41Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c451518834012876875f39970cthe six types of twitter usershttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2009-12-28T07:22:41Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876875e51970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="091228.twitter" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012876875e51970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876875e51970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p>This cartoon sprung fully formed from a <a href="http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/the-six-twitter-types-guy-kawasaki">great post</a> from Guy Kawasaki. I always learn something from <a href="http://blog.guykawasaki.com/">Guy&#39;s blog</a>, so it&#39;s a tribute of sorts to put together a cartoon entirely inspired by one of his posts.&#0160; </p><p>Twitter can be overwhelming at first, like drinking through a firehouse. It definitely helps to understand the different archetypes there. Seek out the Mavens and Mensches.&#0160;</p><p>But, more importantly, consider the type of Twitter user you want to be. Evolve beyond simple lifestreaming. Become a Maven or Mensch yourself. This is particularly essential for Brands. Tone down the overt selling, and inspire consumers by offering them something of real value.&#0160; </p><p>Guy has a useful <a href="http://bagtheweb.com/b/4QfhjBOseBAF">Twitter 101</a> primer.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876875e51970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="091228.twitter" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012876875e51970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012876875e51970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> </p> <p>This cartoon sprung fully formed from a <a href="http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/the-six-twitter-types-guy-kawasaki">great post</a> from Guy Kawasaki. I always learn something from <a href="http://blog.guykawasaki.com/">Guy&#39;s blog</a>, so it&#39;s a tribute of sorts to put together a cartoon entirely inspired by one of his posts.&#0160; </p><p>Twitter can be overwhelming at first, like drinking through a firehouse. It definitely helps to understand the different archetypes there. Seek out the Mavens and Mensches.&#0160;</p><p>But, more importantly, consider the type of Twitter user you want to be. Evolve beyond simple lifestreaming. Become a Maven or Mensch yourself. This is particularly essential for Brands. Tone down the overt selling, and inspire consumers by offering them something of real value.&#0160; </p><p>Guy has a useful <a href="http://bagtheweb.com/b/4QfhjBOseBAF">Twitter 101</a> primer.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c4515188340120a74c05d6970b Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2009-12-13T20:41:35Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340128764efd06970cvoice of the brandhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2009-12-13T20:41:35Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a74bf2e3970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="091214.voiceofthebrand" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a74bf2e3970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a74bf2e3970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />As businesses wade into social media, there&#39;s an interesting choice to make about the voice of the brand. The falacy is that social media is free. But the people costs to do it properly are important to understand going into it. As much as I love <a href="http://twitter.com/zappos">Tony Hsieh&#39;s approach</a> at Zappos, not every CEO is capable of personally fronting the company in social media.&#0160; </p><p>I enjoyed <a href="http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/the-right-voice-for-your-brand-online-ispick-one-the-ceo-head-of-marketing-an-intern-or-who-ann">Ann Handley&#39;s post</a> on this topic: &quot;The Right Voice for Your Brand Online is ... (Pick One): The CEO? Head of Marketing? An Intern? or Who?&quot;&#0160; </p><p>I think the laziest (yet very common) option is the &quot;Intern&quot;, which illustrates just how low social media really falls on the priority list for many companies. Social media is a classic Intern assignment because it has unclear upside and little perceived risk of screwing it up.&#0160; </p><p>But the Intern is often the least connected person in the organization. The Intern approach runs counter to the promise of social media improving the dialog between organizations and their consumers. Interns also need supervision, and the approval process detracts from the immediacy of social media.&#0160; </p><p>I recently heard someone describe tweets and facebook updates as &quot;copywriting&quot;. It was a good reminder that social media dialog is every much a part of the voice of the brand as any other form of marketing (perhaps more so). &#0160;It&#39;s crucial to consider who is doing the talking and what they&#39;re talking about.</p><p>If yours is a brand that markets from the inside out, this voice should come naturally from what you are already doing. If instead your voice is applied externally from an agency, you may need a bigger overhaul. Social media exposes Cyrano de Bergerac. &#0160;Your consumers are increasingly&#0160;demanding a real and meaningful conversation with your brand. And they likely won&#39;t have that conversation with an Intern.&#0160;</p><p>To think through the true investment of social media programs, I found&#0160;the &quot;<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/thebrandbuilder/olivier-blanchard-basics-of-social-media-roi" style="color: blue !important; text-decoration: underline !important; cursor: text !important; ">Basics of Social Media ROI</a>&quot;&#0160;from Olivier Blanchard a useful place to start.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a74bf2e3970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="091214.voiceofthebrand" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a74bf2e3970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a74bf2e3970b-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br />As businesses wade into social media, there&#39;s an interesting choice to make about the voice of the brand. The falacy is that social media is free. But the people costs to do it properly are important to understand going into it. As much as I love <a href="http://twitter.com/zappos">Tony Hsieh&#39;s approach</a> at Zappos, not every CEO is capable of personally fronting the company in social media.&#0160; </p><p>I enjoyed <a href="http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/the-right-voice-for-your-brand-online-ispick-one-the-ceo-head-of-marketing-an-intern-or-who-ann">Ann Handley&#39;s post</a> on this topic: &quot;The Right Voice for Your Brand Online is ... (Pick One): The CEO? Head of Marketing? An Intern? or Who?&quot;&#0160; </p><p>I think the laziest (yet very common) option is the &quot;Intern&quot;, which illustrates just how low social media really falls on the priority list for many companies. Social media is a classic Intern assignment because it has unclear upside and little perceived risk of screwing it up.&#0160; </p><p>But the Intern is often the least connected person in the organization. The Intern approach runs counter to the promise of social media improving the dialog between organizations and their consumers. Interns also need supervision, and the approval process detracts from the immediacy of social media.&#0160; </p><p>I recently heard someone describe tweets and facebook updates as &quot;copywriting&quot;. It was a good reminder that social media dialog is every much a part of the voice of the brand as any other form of marketing (perhaps more so). &#0160;It&#39;s crucial to consider who is doing the talking and what they&#39;re talking about.</p><p>If yours is a brand that markets from the inside out, this voice should come naturally from what you are already doing. If instead your voice is applied externally from an agency, you may need a bigger overhaul. Social media exposes Cyrano de Bergerac. &#0160;Your consumers are increasingly&#0160;demanding a real and meaningful conversation with your brand. And they likely won&#39;t have that conversation with an Intern.&#0160;</p><p>To think through the true investment of social media programs, I found&#0160;the &quot;<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/thebrandbuilder/olivier-blanchard-basics-of-social-media-roi" style="color: blue !important; text-decoration: underline !important; cursor: text !important; ">Basics of Social Media ROI</a>&quot;&#0160;from Olivier Blanchard a useful place to start.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834012875c6d840970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2009-11-22T21:37:51Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340120a6c150f5970bdriving by the rear view mirrorhttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2009-11-22T21:37:50Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875c6d793970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="091123c.rearviewmirror" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012875c6d793970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875c6d793970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br /> I get most of my cartoon ideas in meetings.<br /><p>I was in a strategy discussion recently that became stuck in a competitive debate. We charted the minutia of each recent competitive action and overdosed on two-by-two matrices. &#0160;</p><p>In the middle of this war-gaming,&#0160;someone observed, “We’re trying to drive by the rear view mirror.”</p><p>It was a wake-up call that reminded us we were so focused on the competition, we had lost sight of the actual consumer. Sure, you need to know the competitive landscape. &#0160;But others&#0160;can only guide you so far.</p><p>I most felt this competitive fever pitch in the Low Carb gold rush a few years ago. &#0160;For a year, every food manufacturer set up Low Carb task forces to rush products to meet the earliest possible ship windows, worrying all the while that they might be too late.&#0160;</p><p>In 2000, there were 26 Low Carb products in the US. In 2003, there were 392. In 2004, there were 3,375. In 2005, the Atkins company filed for Chapter 11. Brands hit the gas and followed each other off of a cliff.</p><p> I read once that a company can either become a rule breaker, a rule maker, or a rule follower. The only companies that succeed as followers are those with scale, lower cost, and higher efficiency.</p><p>If you&#39;re a rule breaker or rule maker, it&#39;s good to remember to take your eyes off the rear view mirror and look to the horizon.</p><p><p>Here&#39;s a cartoon I drew in the midst of the Low Carb fever pitch.</p><p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a6c50f5a970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="color: blue !important; text-decoration: underline !important; cursor: text !important; display: inline; "><img alt="031103.atkins" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a6c50f5a970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a6c50f5a970b-450wi" style="cursor: pointer !important; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; width: 450px; " /></a></p></p> <a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875c6d793970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="091123c.rearviewmirror" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012875c6d793970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875c6d793970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br /> I get most of my cartoon ideas in meetings.<br /><p>I was in a strategy discussion recently that became stuck in a competitive debate. We charted the minutia of each recent competitive action and overdosed on two-by-two matrices. &#0160;</p><p>In the middle of this war-gaming,&#0160;someone observed, “We’re trying to drive by the rear view mirror.”</p><p>It was a wake-up call that reminded us we were so focused on the competition, we had lost sight of the actual consumer. Sure, you need to know the competitive landscape. &#0160;But others&#0160;can only guide you so far.</p><p>I most felt this competitive fever pitch in the Low Carb gold rush a few years ago. &#0160;For a year, every food manufacturer set up Low Carb task forces to rush products to meet the earliest possible ship windows, worrying all the while that they might be too late.&#0160;</p><p>In 2000, there were 26 Low Carb products in the US. In 2003, there were 392. In 2004, there were 3,375. In 2005, the Atkins company filed for Chapter 11. Brands hit the gas and followed each other off of a cliff.</p><p> I read once that a company can either become a rule breaker, a rule maker, or a rule follower. The only companies that succeed as followers are those with scale, lower cost, and higher efficiency.</p><p>If you&#39;re a rule breaker or rule maker, it&#39;s good to remember to take your eyes off the rear view mirror and look to the horizon.</p><p><p>Here&#39;s a cartoon I drew in the midst of the Low Carb fever pitch.</p><p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a6c50f5a970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39; ); return false" style="color: blue !important; text-decoration: underline !important; cursor: text !important; display: inline; "><img alt="031103.atkins" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c4515188340120a6c50f5a970b " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c4515188340120a6c50f5a970b-450wi" style="cursor: pointer !important; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; width: 450px; " /></a></p></p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834012875b2b324970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2009-11-18T17:51:56Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340120a6afcf1b970bthe toilet paper budgethttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2009-11-18T17:51:55Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875b21e47970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Goliath" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012875b21e47970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875b21e47970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a></p> <p> Last week, <a href="http://www.methodhome.com">method</a> cofounder Eric Ryan was the only speaker at the Association of National Advertisers conference not representing a billion dollar brand.&nbsp;</p> <p>Whenever he speaks to a crowd like this, he does a funny bit where he calculates the rolls of toilet paper used by employees at Unilever, P&G, Reckitt Benckiser, and all the companies method competes against. He then compares their toilet paper budget with the media budget at method.&nbsp;</p> <p>“I will happily trade my marketing budget for your toilet paper budget,” he tells the crowd.&nbsp;</p> <p>AdAge picked up this story in an <a href="http://ow.ly/Dpoy">interesting article</a> called, “method conducts a bit of meta marketing in a room full of marketers.”</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875b21e47970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Goliath" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012875b21e47970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875b21e47970c-450wi" style="width: 450px;" /></a></p> <p> Last week, <a href="http://www.methodhome.com">method</a> cofounder Eric Ryan was the only speaker at the Association of National Advertisers conference not representing a billion dollar brand.&nbsp;</p> <p>Whenever he speaks to a crowd like this, he does a funny bit where he calculates the rolls of toilet paper used by employees at Unilever, P&G, Reckitt Benckiser, and all the companies method competes against. He then compares their toilet paper budget with the media budget at method.&nbsp;</p> <p>“I will happily trade my marketing budget for your toilet paper budget,” he tells the crowd.&nbsp;</p> <p>AdAge picked up this story in an <a href="http://ow.ly/Dpoy">interesting article</a> called, “method conducts a bit of meta marketing in a room full of marketers.”</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collectiontag:api.typepad.com,2009:6e00e008c451518834012875a5d11d970c Tom Fishburne posted an entry http://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/post2009-11-16T00:37:09Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c4515188340120a6a2958f970bthe caged bird tweetshttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/article2009-11-16T00:37:08Ztag:api.typepad.com,2009:6p00e008c451518834Tom Fishburnehttp://profile.typepad.com/tomfishburne<p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875a5cd56970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="091116e.cagedbird" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012875a5cd56970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875a5cd56970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br> I found an interesting study about social media in the workplace, called “<a href="http://rht.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=131&item=790">Whistle but don’t tweet at work</a>.” The poll reports that 54% of companies ban social networking entirely, even for business purposes.&nbsp; </p> <p>Organizations are clearly struggling how to address social media. Many start with the premise of social media as a threat, rather than an opportunity. The emphasis is on limiting liability, often with Draconian command-and-control policies (like the muzzle and cage in this cartoon).&nbsp;</p> <p>Counter that approach with what a recent Harvard Business post advocates as “<a href="http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/cs/2009/11/the_uberconnected_organization.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+harvardbusiness/cs+(Conversation+Starter+on+HarvardBusiness.org)">The Über-Connected Organization</a>”. It gives some good pointers on how to embrace social media within an organization. Large companies like IBM and Toshiba are connecting employees globally and driving mass collaboration through social media tools.&nbsp;</p> <p>Those case studies speak to the potential of über-connections within an organization. But the greatest opportunity involves the über-connections between an organization and its customers. More than ever, consumers are seeking organizations with a human face.&nbsp;</p> <p>Yet, the corporate social media crackdown is hamstringing those types of meaningful interactions. These new policies are bolstering the “<a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/tomfishburne/2009/09/the-corporate-firewall.html">Corporate Firewall</a>” I cartooned a few months ago.&nbsp;</p> <p>It’s time to tear down that wall. It’s time to acknowledge that the command-and-control model no longer works. It’s time to encourage the organization to engage more freely with the outside world.&nbsp;</p> <p>If there’s nothing to hide, then the risk should be low for social media tools to enable more transparent conversations. If there is something to hide, then the effort should be placed on cleaning up those skeletons in the closet so that the organization can truly brand itself from the inside out.&nbsp;</p> <p>Time is far better spent there than on devising over-protective social media policies.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875a5cd56970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="091116e.cagedbird" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e008c451518834012875a5cd56970c " src="http://www.tomfishburne.com/.a/6a00e008c451518834012875a5cd56970c-450wi" style="width: 450px; " /></a> <br> I found an interesting study about social media in the workplace, called “<a href="http://rht.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=131&item=790">Whistle but don’t tweet at work</a>.” The poll reports that 54% of companies ban social networking entirely, even for business purposes.&nbsp; </p> <p>Organizations are clearly struggling how to address social media. Many start with the premise of social media as a threat, rather than an opportunity. The emphasis is on limiting liability, often with Draconian command-and-control policies (like the muzzle and cage in this cartoon).&nbsp;</p> <p>Counter that approach with what a recent Harvard Business post advocates as “<a href="http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/cs/2009/11/the_uberconnected_organization.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+harvardbusiness/cs+(Conversation+Starter+on+HarvardBusiness.org)">The Über-Connected Organization</a>”. It gives some good pointers on how to embrace social media within an organization. Large companies like IBM and Toshiba are connecting employees globally and driving mass collaboration through social media tools.&nbsp;</p> <p>Those case studies speak to the potential of über-connections within an organization. But the greatest opportunity involves the über-connections between an organization and its customers. More than ever, consumers are seeking organizations with a human face.&nbsp;</p> <p>Yet, the corporate social media crackdown is hamstringing those types of meaningful interactions. These new policies are bolstering the “<a href="http://www.tomfishburne.com/tomfishburne/2009/09/the-corporate-firewall.html">Corporate Firewall</a>” I cartooned a few months ago.&nbsp;</p> <p>It’s time to tear down that wall. It’s time to acknowledge that the command-and-control model no longer works. It’s time to encourage the organization to engage more freely with the outside world.&nbsp;</p> <p>If there’s nothing to hide, then the risk should be low for social media tools to enable more transparent conversations. If there is something to hide, then the effort should be placed on cleaning up those skeletons in the closet so that the organization can truly brand itself from the inside out.&nbsp;</p> <p>Time is far better spent there than on devising over-protective social media policies.</p>tag:api.typepad.com,2009:6a00e008c45151883400e008c451548834Tom Fishburne: Marketoonisthttp://activitystrea.ms/schema/1.0/collection